


Moments of Happiness

by KozakuraAki



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: AU, F/F, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 11:37:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12189258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KozakuraAki/pseuds/KozakuraAki
Summary: LWA AU. Diana Cavendish is a princess of an old kingdom and she was cursed by a powerful wizard, as a result, if she ever met the person she was destined to love she would forget everything about said person. What would happen when she met Chariot's assistant from the Du Nord Circus, Atsuko Kagari?





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first fic I wrote for LWA and also the first one in English as well, I have the thing already posted on FF but I decided I will move all my works here and start updating in both at the same time. By this point I wasn't used to writing nor English, so please be patient with that.

“As a princess, such things as my own feelings and love are nothing of importance, I will just do what will be the best for my kingdom.” Diana Cavendish has said to herself, she was convinced that loving someone would be terrible, she didn't want it to ever happen.

When she was a small child she received a curse, her aunt Daryl tried to scam a powerful wizard and in his anger he decided to cast a spell in the new born child so the family would suffer, and because for that day Diana's destiny changed forever. The curse was a weird one, it didn't threat her health nor her fortune or appearance, it was far more complex than that, it affected her future. “If she ever met the person she was going to love, then she will forget all memories of said person once they depart.” Her aunt told the old man words to Diana when she was eight, and then asked her to write the name of every man she ever met so if someday she found him at least she would know who was it. She didn't like to do it, she could tell that men were of no interest to her, so it was meaningless to write all their names. Still, she continued with the task just to please her persistent family, and so she had a notebook almost completely filled with names and a “No” written at their sides.

“Diana, are you feeling okay?” Asked Barbara.

“Yeah, you look... Distressed... Are you sure you want to do this?” Continued Hannah, completing what the other was saying.

“There is no need to worry girls, I was just distracted, that's all.” She answered knowing she was lying. Only her family knew about Diana's curse, not even her friends were told about it, and because of that she couldn't tell them she didn't really cared about the person she was going to marry.

For her to become queen she needed to marry someone, it was a law and she couldn't change it as long as she wasn't the queen. For several years, since Diana's mother death, her aunt was in charge of the kingdom, but she knew there was a need for a queen and so decided she was going to marry someone that could be a proper king and work for the best of the people on it. After much thought she decided that a prince from a neighbor kingdom would be the best and then asked Prince Andrew to marry her, he has accepted and they met for the first time, their talk was merely about politics and economy. He didn't seem as he was interested on her, but it was mutual, so she thought it was acceptable. And so the first party was about to start, in her own castle they invited nobles from both places and while she was getting herself ready for a really long night her friends noticed she wasn't enjoying any of this.

“If you say so... But tell us if you need anything, okay?” They said still worried, Diana didn't answer because she didn't want to lie again, but they didn't ask anymore and leave her alone just as she wanted.

“Diana, we should dance.” Andrew told her, knowing that doing so would give them a good image she agreed, but even when they were really close to each other’s, she felt like there was a huge distance, like they both were dancing alone. She didn't mind it though, she didn't need to be close to him, she just needed him to be a good king, that's all.

It was late in the night, in reality she just wanted it to end, it has been very long, she was tired of talking with that many people and having to hear their congratulations to her. At this point she was just sitting in her future throne, looking as the guests, when someone stole her attention forcing her to look in her direction.

“Hello ladies and gentlemen! We are from the Du Nord Circus, ready to make you have a blast!” A young girl was in the center or a small group of weird looking people, she then remembered then that Hannah told her about them. The girl had a particular accent, she looked foreign, her voice was cheerful, her face was cover with a big smile and she was wearing a strange white witch costume.  
“This is my first time as the center, I'm Akko! I'm Chariot's assistant! Now for my first trick...” She took her hat and put her hand on it, after some seconds she pulled something and a little explosion happened in front of her, at first Diana was worried about her, but then a little fairy came out and Akko said. “Come on! I didn't mean a literal blast!” Everyone started laughing, even Diana cracked a little smile at that ridiculous punchline. The show continued, they showed both normal and magic tricks, the princess was a little impressed at the magic ones, and she noticed she couldn't take her eyes from the explosive girl.

“That was all for the night, but if you want to see more you can always try to search the Du Nord Circus! We will be in this kingdom for a while! Chariot wasn't feeling good tonight so she couldn't come, but I'm sure you'll enjoy her show if you come see her! See you later everyone!” Diana had a good time looking at them, she even laughed just a little with some of the things they did, and because of that she told to herself that she will remember her words.

And so the party had come to an end, Diana was glad it was finally over, but... She couldn't shake the feeling that something important was lost, that she couldn't remember about something, or someone, she could tell she was happy some moments ago, but now she couldn't tell why... _“Did... Did I meet the person...?”_  She asked herself, her face was pale, she started to check her notebook, but she could remember all of the names on it. She could remember all the men on the list, she started to look at the guest lists, trying to find something that it wasn't on hers, but she didn't find anything. _“Why am I doing this...? What have I lost to feel this weird...? Why do I want to remember that person name this hard...?”_ She had no answer to any question she had made to herself, unable to think anymore she decided it was really late and she could think about it tomorrow, and with a feeling of emptiness in her chest Diana went to her bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Last night was truly a mystery for Diana. _“Why would I ever look this hard for a name when I said so many times that I didn't want to love anyone?”_   She had calmed herself already, but her mind kept wondering about the events that she couldn't remember. The princess was a curious person, she didn't like the unknown, but this was... Something else... She was completely lost in her thoughts when suddenly she had an idea. “Could it be... Could this person be a woman...? It... Certainly wasn't impossible... But... I mean, it would be the most logical conclusion at this point, and it would explain some things...” Her face reddened, she was having a really hard time accepting what she just said, so much that she didn't actually noticed she spoke her thoughts out loud.

“Diana, what did you said?” Hannah asked her in confusion.

“W-what?!” Her redness only increased, as she noticed what she had just done.

“We couldn't hear you, actually, but you were talking to yourself, what's going on?” Barbara asked. Her words made her stop panicking as they didn't catch what she said.

“I... Was merely thinking about some things, don't concern yourself about it.” They kept with their chat while Diana couldn't contain herself and started looking again for names in the list, this time with a new perspective. She wasn't paying any attention again to the two girls that were in front of her, the only thing she was doing was saying no after no in her head. She could remember everyone.

“Diana?” She put a finger on the page so she didn't forget where she was and then looked up, only to answer Barbara with a face that they could tell she didn't hear anything they were saying before.

“I was saying, those Circus people were really weird, weren't they? But the show has fun.” Diana noticed something was really odd, she couldn't remember anyone from a Circus.

“What... Circus people...?” Confused stares filled the room, as nobody in the conversation understood what was going on.

“You can't remember? But that girl entered the place with an explosion!” Hannah told her.

“Yes, I do remember, I am sorry what I meant to ask was their name, I can't remember it.” She lied.

“Oh, I see, I didn't think that something like that was your taste. They called themselves the Du Nord Circus, they said that they were going to be in this place for a while.”

“I... was just a little curious, that's all. I Have a task to do now, so I should be leaving, thank you for the tea.” Diana said, not completely lying but neither telling the truth.

“Okay, well, if you need anything just tell us, seriously.”

“I... I will.” And with that Diana walked out of the castle gardens finally knowing where she had to look.

“Hannah.” Barbara waited until their friend was far away so she wouldn’t hear her.

“Yes?”

“Let's follow her, she is acting really weird.”

Diana started asking for information, she learned that way that they were staying in an inn really close from the market and by extension the castle, since that weren't too far away she decided to simply walk. She was really nervous, but she couldn't show that to her people, so she acted as calm and collected as she has always been. She decided to stop to get a new notebook, just in case just, before going to the inn. As she opened the door she looked at her side and by chance noticed that her friends where spying on her, but before she could say anything a scream made her look away.

“Move out!” A girl with brown hair came out from the inn and flying with just a wand in her hand she crashed onto the princess. Both girls fall in the floor and in seconds the witch moved out of her and stood up again. “I'm so sorry! I was practicing some movement magic and I accidentally enchanted the wand and... That happened... At least it stopped the spell, so thanks!”

“That was dangerous, you should be more careful... Be glad I was the one you fell onto and not someone scary.” Diana started scolding her.

“Yeah, I know, I'm sorry! Anyway I... Have to go somewhere, so... See you!” And with that said she started running towards the market. After seeing that the two girls that had been following the blonde rushed to their friend.

“Diana are you okay? Did she hurt you?” Asked Hannah first.

“Why would I not be? What do you mean?” Just as she said that she could feel it, _I lost my memory..._

“Did you hit your head? I mean, you fell on the floor, but...” _I did?_

“Y-yes, of course, I don't think I hit my head, I am fine, I... I...” She couldn't take this anymore, she closed her eyes and started walking towards the castle. “I need to tell something to you both... Please follow me...”

* * *

“Wait, so you mean that if none of that thing with your aunt would have happened you would have fell in love with that circus girl?!” Hannah asked totally shocked. They have already told her everything that had happened at the inn's door, she still couldn't remember any of that but she trusted their words and told them about the truth.

“I know... It's truly strange... To think I would have loved a girl...” The princess answered.

“Is it really? I mean, you never looked at a boy, you just take out your notebook and then you basically ignore them unless it was needed, it makes sense to me.” Barbara surprised both of them. “What?”

“Y-yeah, she is right, you are not weird for something like that, and we will always be your friends.” Hannah continued, but she seemed to be having a harder time following this conversation.

“Thank you girls… I am sorry I have kept this a secret…” But Diana didn’t regret doing so, she had never seen her curse as something of importance and she knew that if her friends knew they were going to worry about her.

“But wait, what are you going to do with the wedding and Andrew?” Barbara asked her.

“Nothing. You have mistaken my intentions with this search, I was merely curious about the person I couldn’t remember… But now that that is solved I don’t see a reason to keep trying to talk to her, I will forget everything about her each time I see her either way. Besides, why would I fall in love with an entertainer? The kingdom has a need for proper rulers.” She answered coldly, her face expressed no emotion.

“But Diana, isn’t this kind of romantic? I mean, isn’t she like your soulmate or something?” Barbara on the other hand had shining eyes and her two hands where together next to her chest.

“Soulmate?! Don’t be ridiculous!” Her face was red again, she couldn’t understand why she was so happy about all this. “In any case, it doesn’t matter… I can’t worry about things like this, not before and definitely not now…” Diana took out her new notebook, and started writing some things. “Hannah, can you draw me her face?”

“Sure, but why?” She took it and started to move her pencil around the first paper.

“I want to be able to tell if I ever meet her again, I wouldn’t like to forget everything again and start searching all over once more.” Once her friend finished the drawing she started writing all the details about what they told her that had happen and promised herself that if she ever encounters Akko again she will do the same before departing.

It was already late, so Hannah and Barbara went back to their rooms in the castle. Only when Diana was left alone was when she could speak the truth. _“Atsuko Kagari… Why do I want to meet you and at the same time I feel like I miss you? What have I lost? Reading what they told me it didn’t make any sense, it was a normal conversation. Perhaps it could be something on their first encounter?”_ She didn’t like to lie again, but it was inevitable, if they ever discovered her true feelings she was sure they would do something reckless. At least, she thought that if they didn’t know they wouldn’t do it. Little did she know that she was entirely wrong about that.

* * *

“Where are you taking me? It’s already night girls.” Diana was shaking, she knew where she was going, she could barely walk, they both were holding her hands forcing her to move.

“Just trust us in this one, okay?” As Hannah answered they stopped walking in fear that all this could have been too much for her. “Please.”

She went silent for some seconds, only looking at the floor, after a minute she started walking on her own without saying a word, but she was going in the same direction they wanted her to go.

“Welcome everyone! I’m Shiny Chariot and we are from the Du Nord Circus, we hope that you’ll enjoy the show!” A red haired woman was talking in front of the fountain in the market, a large group of people were gathered by the lights and strange looking costumes they were using.

“Is that her?” Diana asked at the sight of a brunette doing fireworks with her wand.

“Yeah, she is the one.” Barbara answered.

“I see…”

The show was fun and charming, the princess watched it with a gentle smile and little laughs. Even when Akko’s magic was way simpler than Chariot’s she thought hers was enjoyable regardless of that, and she couldn’t stop looking at her, it was like it wasn’t the first time.

“That was all for the night! We will be in this town for some more nights, so you can come watch us tomorrow! And never forget, a believing heart is your magic!” Chariot said and they started walking towards the inn again. When Diana saw Akko turning her back the fear had returned to her.

“I won’t let it happen so sudden this time!” Before her friends could react the blonde rushed out to the little witch, with all her might she screamed. “Wait!” The brunette jumped as she was startled.

“You! If this is about yesterday, I already said I was sorry! Please don’t hit me!” Diana’s panic changed onto embarrassment because she had just done something really weird. Once she calmed herself again she started speaking.

“Don’t concern yourself about that, I’m not angry, I just wanted to… Congratulate you for a fantastic show. Can you wait for a minute? I need to note down some things.” She took out her notebook and started to write about everything that just happened, she was fast at this so it didn’t take her much time to get to the present again.

“Akko, you need to go to- who is she?” Chariot has come to pick her up. “Wait… Princess Diana?!”

“Yes, I’m Diana Cavendish, I was merely taking some of her time to tell her that your performance was astonishing.”

“Wait! Princess Diana?! What?!” The girl was a slow one, she was completely shocked.

“Thank you so much for your kind words princess, I’m so glad you enjoyed the show! But Akko needs to go to sleep now, she needs to stay healthy.” The red haired woman answered her trying to show as much respect as she could.

“But mom! She is the princess! How often can I meet a princess?!” The little witch pouted.

“Go to sleep, Akko.” Her will was of iron, the brunette knew it was a lost fight.

“Yes mom… It was nice talking to you Diana, see you later!” She said with a big smile.

“I… Yes, I will see you later…” The blonde was feeling a big pain in her chest already, she knew it was going to be all erased in any moment.

“Really?! Can I see you tomorrow then?” Akko’s eyes were sparkling. Diana was the one surprised now, she had answered without thinking and couldn’t have imagined that the other would have taken her words as a promise.

“That… Seems acceptable… I should take my leave, good night.” She wrote everything that just happened so that she didn’t betray her words, and then walked away.

As she was walking she started wondering how she had ended in the middle of the town, the only thing she knew was that Hannah and Barbara wanted to take her there, but she couldn’t remember the reason. As she was lost in thoughts her friends approach her.

“Diana, your notebook.” Hannah told her, the both were feeling guilty, Diana’s face was, as much as she tried to hide, showing the pain of losing her memories again. Diana started to read how with her own writing she has told herself about a cute cheerful girl that had stolen her attention with her tricks, she couldn’t believe her own words. Akko sounded like a person she would like to meet, and apparently she had already arranged something, the only problem was that…

“I will lose my memories, and it would seem like it wouldn’t be the first time…” She said softly.

“You don’t have to do that if you don’t want Diana, I mean… You look…” Barbara answered.

“Sad, really sad...” Hannah continued. The princess couldn’t answer right away, but after some minutes of silence she decided to take an action.

“Certainly, I don’t think getting close to her it’s a good idea… But if I have already promised her I will see her again, I can’t back down on that, I will make sure it would be the last time…” And with that said the tree girls walked back to the castle.


	3. Chapter 3

“When she performed, her eyes had a spark like I have never seen before. Her smile was like a light in the night, one that could outshine all the rest.” Diana was curious about this person; why would she write something like this? She knew that she shouldn’t get involved with her, but she needed to know, how could anyone make her feel like that? What did she saw in her? She couldn’t understand, but she believed her own words, and because of that today she was going to make sure that she didn’t promise her to see her again. Akko was a danger, as much as she was curious, she knew her curse would stop her to ever get to truly know her. Diana saw all this as she was reading a fiction, because in her mind none of this nor the girl existed, it was just something that somebody told her, herself.

“Diana, are you truly sure you want to do this?” Hannah asked, her friends were still worried, after seeing how much she suffered last night they had a strong fear that she could get hurt again.

“I am. I need to do this.” Diana answered with a smile.

“Then we wish you good luck, go see her.” Barbara said with a bigger one.

“Girls, I will just talk to her, I’m not going to try to-”

“Just go.” Her friends didn’t need her excuses. “And remember Diana, look at your notebook.” The princess just nodded, tried to not think about anything and then leaved the garden.

“You think she is going to be fine?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t know, but we have to believe in her.”

* * *

Diana knew where to find Akko, while she was calmly walking to the inn they were staying, she couldn’t wait to meet her. When she was getting close to it the cheerful voice of a girl stole out her attention. “Diana! Hi!” The brunette looked similar to the one in the drawing she had, the princess knew that she should be Akko. “I was doing some errands and I just finished them, anyway how are you?”

“Hello Akko, I’m good, thanks for asking. What about you?” The blonde inspected her, she looked and acted just as she was told she would.

“I’m fine, well actually, I’m glad to see you, for how you answered last night I wasn’t sure if you had really meant it or not, you didn’t seem so sure either.” _Did I answer her like that? How irresponsible of me._ Diana told to herself.

“But I’m here, so don’t worry about that.”

“Yay!”

“There is a thing I don’t understand though, why were you so eager to meet me again?”

“Well, you are a princess and that’s cool, but besides that you seem like a really good person! Someone I would want to be friends with!” Diana could tell the honesty in her voice, she didn’t have any ulterior motives.

“I-I see… In any case, I was wondering if you could show me some of your tricks, they seemed charming.” Diana just said something wrong, _“I should not have said seemed, I should have said looked, this is problematic, what if she asked me about-”_

“Oki doki, now you are going to see again how cool can I be!” For the princess luck, the girl was oblivious.

Akko started doing various things, little fireworks, transforming into different animals, her ‘explosive intro’, telling some jokes. While the witch didn’t know too many tricks, she was sure to cover it with her personality. As she went with her show a small group of people gathered next to them. Diana could finally understand why she would have written all that, it was because it was all true. When her little show ended the people dispersed.

“That was wonderful!” The blonde had been totally charmed by her performance.

“Thanks! It was fun to do this! I have learned all of those tricks from my mom!” Akko answered her with a big smile.

“I see, now that you say that I have been wondering, where is your dad?” She had hope that it wouldn’t lead to some hurtful memories to her.

“Well, actually… How do I say this…?” Her cheerful voice now was a calm one, Diana knew she had asked the wrong thing. “Chariot is not actually my mom. She told me a year ago that in reality she was friends with my mother, who lived in a faraway nation. She had a really dangerous sickness and my father abandoned us because of it. When Chariot came to visit her she learned about this and tried to find a healer in time, but when she returned it was already late, and since then she decided to take me as her daughter.” When she finished her explanation the blonde didn’t answer at all, she was just looking at the floor. “Diana?” As Akko tried to call her attention again she noticed that the princess was crying and her hands were shaking. Diana was recalling the memories of losing her own mother. After some seconds of silence, she felt how the brunette pulled her in a hug. “It’s okay Diana, you didn’t do anything wrong, I was too young so I can’t remember any of that, and besides, Chariot is the best mom I would have ever asked.” Diana was hesitant at first but she decided to return the hug. She was calm now, she didn’t know how much time passed, but she didn’t care either. _She is warm._ The princess told to herself.

“Thank you… I was… Just lost in some old memories… My mother has passed away some years ago, I shouldn’t have asked that, I was merely curious and I…” Diana was rambling.

“Don’t worry, besides, I got the chance to hug you, and you smell nice.” Akko interrupted her softly. But just as she did that the blonde realized that they were really close, embarrassed about this she carefully pushed the brunette away, Diana’s face was as red as a tomato.

“I… Well… That was… I… Thank you…” She couldn’t look at her face, and before any of the two could say something else a voice called.

“There you are Akko, I need the things you went to- wait, am I interrupting something?” A woman with lilac hair saw Diana’s face and immediately could tell something was going on. “Oh well, I can wait for a few minutes, but please come to the inn as soon as possible. I need to finish my new experiment and I need your help.”

“Yep, I will.” The girl answered, and with that said the woman walked out.

“Who was she? She didn’t look like an entertainer.” Diana asked.

“She? She is my mom’s… friend.” The way that the little witch answered struck odd to her. “Well, looks like I have to go… But I will see you tomorrow, right?” Akko’s cheerfulness returned to her.

“I… Yes… But please wait a minute.” Diana took out her notebook and started to write everything that just happened, she was in fear of what will happen next, but it was inevitable.

“Why are you doing that?” Akko was curious.

“Oh, well… My aunt forces me to do it, she said it’s a good memory exercise.” She half lied and finished her task.

“That’s weird, anyway, see you later!” As she leaved Diana prepared herself for what was about to happen, it was painful just to think of it, but it was also quick to happen.

_“What was I doing?”_ Diana had no idea. She couldn’t remember why she was close to the market. A feeling of emptiness was the only thing she could feel before noticing tears were falling in her cheeks. She has lost something important, but she didn’t know what it was… _“Remember Diana, look at your notebook.”_ The voice of Hannah appeared in her head. She was confused as to why, but she started to read the story of how she met a wonderful girl. The person she was cursed to forget. “ _Why did I do something as reckless as meeting her? Am I stupid_?” Was the first thing she could say to herself, but as she moved on with the pages she started to understand, the girl had been able to capture her attention twice, and her heart once. _“Okay, yes, I am definitely stupid…”_ She said as she read that she promised to see her again, and this time Diana was way more curious about the girl that before.

* * *

“Diana, you are back, how did it- I mean, did you-” Hannah was hesitant of how to ask her about it, Diana simply sat next to them and let out a big sigh.

“I… It seems like I told her I will see her tomorrow again, and more importantly…” She lowered her voice as much as she could. “Apparently I have already fell for her once…” Her friends could only gasp. Hannah was in total shock, but Barbara…

“Okay you need to tell me the details right now, did you confess? Did you kiss her? What happened?” She couldn’t control her excitement.

“What?! No! And please keep it quiet.” Diana was embarrassed again. “I didn’t do any of those things, but this said she hugged me… In any case, I will have to end this tomorrow.”

“But didn’t you said that yesterday?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t remember, did I? Well, I need to make sure this time it happens.” Diana said in frustration. She was scared, she didn’t need to be in love, it was something unnecessary, and losing her memories constantly was inconvenient and dangerous.

“I see… That’s probably the best choice… Sorry…” Barbara said, noticing with Diana’s words how awful what she just did was.

* * *

 

“Akko, who was that girl before?” Croix asked her while she was reading a book, trying to search something that could help her develop a new spell.

“She is Princess Diana Cavendish; she is pretty nice!” Akko was pulled out of the boredom of just standing still holding a sphere on her hand.

“A princess confessed to you? That’s my girl!” Akko jumped in her surprise and let the object fall to the floor.

“Wait, what?! No! No! No! She didn’t confess to me! We were just talking, talking! That’s all!” Akko’s face reddened and Croix couldn’t stop herself from giggling.

“You don’t need to be so shy about it, you know you can tell me anything.”

“But I’m telling you the truth! And besides, she’s engaged…” Akko told her pouting.

“Oh right, she was going to marry Prince Hanbridge. But you know, most weddings between loyalties are just political pacts, she probably has no interest on him.”

“Stop! We are just friends! Friends!”

“If you said so, anyway take the orb again, I think I found what went wrong before.” Akko did as she was told and Croix chanted a spell on it, after she did that the sphere had a yellow light on it. “Okay, try spinning it.” The girl did just that but the magic mark didn’t move with the rest.

“So… What is this supposed to do?”

“It’s… Hard to explain, but basically it’s following the sun. It should make easier to keep track of the time when it’s night.” The woman answered.

“Woah! So you invented a magic clock?!”

“Yes, I was planning to present this to her highness.” Croix said confident.

“Really?! Can I go with you?!”

“I don’t see why not, but that would be tomorrow morning, so go to sleep early, okay?”

“Yay!”

* * *

After the night show, Akko went happily to sleep without giving any troubles to her mother, that by itself was weird, she normally would be practicing her magic at this time.

“Honey, did something happened to Akko?” Chariot asked her girlfriend once they were in the bedroom they had been staying for some nights.

“It seems like her highness was charmed by her, and it looks like it’s mutual.” The inventor answered with her teasing tone.

“Wait, what?! Croix, if this is one of your jokes…” She wasn’t buying it.

“But it is not, _chérie_. I accidentally interrupted them and Diana’s face was redder that your hair, and later I asked Akko about that and her face matched her eyes.”

“You have got to be kidding me, the princess is engaged! What are they even going to do about that?” Chariot’s maternal nature was making her worry too much, and her girlfriend could notice.

“Just trust Akko and let them handle it, okay? If they fall in love with each other, then they are going to find a way.” Her words seemed to have the intended effect.

“You are right, for now let’s just see what happens.”

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Diana was in a situation she had not expected, and she didn’t know what to do. She was confident she wouldn’t need her notebook in her own castle, in the Throne Room, Akko wouldn’t just simply appear out of nowhere here. She was wrong.

“Hi Diana!” The cheerful girl called as she and the famous inventor Meridies entered the room. The princess had no doubt, the girl was Akko.

“Hello Akko, I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.” She wasn’t prepared at all.

“I wasn’t either, but Croix said she was coming to see you and I decided to hoop in!” _She is a weird one_. Diana told herself.

“Good morning your highness, I’m so sorry about my interruption yesterday as well as to be interrupting your chat now.” The tinkerer said. _Wait, she was that woman?_

“There is nothing to worry, we were simply chatting.” Diana said calmly, as she didn’t actually remember the conversation so she had nothing to be embarrassed about.

“Is that so? Oh, now that I remember, were you having a fever? Your face was awfully red, if you are sick maybe I should return-” Croix was making fun of her, and Diana would have nothing from it.

“I can assure you my health is perfectly fine, so now why don’t you show me your new creation? Or perhaps you would prefer to come back another day?” Akko as clueless as she was could feel the tension in the air and decided to intervene.

“Yeah! She created something awesome!” The girl said with a smile that relaxed both of them.

Okay Diana, think, you have to think, what can I do in this situation? What can I do….? Wait, I think that this could work out.

“Now that I think of, a friend of mine has a little interest in those gadgets.” She called one of the guards that was in a corner. “Can you tell Barbara and Hannah to come to the throne room, tell them she is here and I need something I have forgotten.”

“Right away.” He answered before leaving the room.

“In the meantime, you can start displaying it.” She told the inventor.

“You said the right word, time.” As Croix said that she took out a weird looking thing. It was a bronze circle with a base to force it in a single orientation and two axes forcing a sphere in place. The sphere had 24 numbers on it and a yellow light came out of one of them.

“Is this a clock? Interesting, with something like this knowing what time it is at night would be much easier.”

“Exactly, that little light is following the sun so it’s a really precise one.” Before Diana could answer two voices called to her.

“Diana!” Her two friends said at the same time, they were scared that they could have been late.

“Calm girls, there is no problem, I was thinking that you may have been interested in this device.” Both of them didn’t react for a while not understanding what was she talking about, until they realized she was lying.

“The guard didn’t say much so we were worried something was wrong.” Hannah said as she laughed nervously.

“Oh right Diana, you forgot this.” Barbara continued and give her the notebook she was needing.

“Thank you, I should be more careful.” Akko didn’t understand what just happened but didn’t mind too much, but for the genius inventor Meridies that conversation was awfully suspicious, they were hiding something. “In any case, I would like to buy your clocks, tell me when you have created more of them.” But the princess didn’t give her any time to ask anything about it.

“Very well, your highness. If you excuse me I will return to my work.” Croix took back her invention and started walking away. Diana was already writing all that just happened knowing Akko would say something before leaving but to her surprise, the girl was not the first to talk.

“You are Akko, right? Would you like to have dinner with us?” _Barbara what are you doing?_ Was the only thing the blonde could think.

“Really?!” The brunette asked Diana looking her directly in the eyes. The princess didn’t know how, but her eyes seemed familiar, as this wasn’t the first time she had look at them. _“But that’s impossible, even if we have met, my memories were erased, there is no way I would be able to-”_

“Diana?” She had forgotten to answer.

“Sorry I… Well… I don’t see any problem with that idea.”

“Yay!” The little witch jumped out of happiness.

* * *

 

“Woah, this looks delicious!” The girl rushed to her chair at the sight of a table full of food.

“Our chefs are from the best of this kingdom, you can eat as much as you want.” Diana answered her.

The four of them started eating, while the three residents of the castle did it with property, Akko did it as she was a starving animal. _“How rude…_ ” the three girls said to themselves.

“So… Akko, that woman was the great inventor Croix Meridies, right? Why were you with her?” Hannah was curious about how all this had happened, after all, Diana didn’t give them any explanation since she was unable giving the circumstances.

“Yep, oh well, she told me she was going to come and I asked her if I could go with her because I wanted to see Diana.”

“I see, but like, how do you know her?”

“Oh, well, she is my mom's…” Akko took a glass of water and drank a sip before continuing. “Friend…” She said really low. The three girls were a little confused at what just happened and Barbara was the first one to speak.

“I couldn’t hear you, could you repeat that?” She had an idea.

“I said that Croix is my mom’s…” Akko repeated her sip. “Friend.”

“If I may ask, why are you doing that?” Diana was a little annoyed at that weird answer.

“I… Fine! I said she was her girlfriend!” While most people didn’t have a problem with people dating someone of the same gender, it was because the majority just didn’t know that was something possible in the first place, and because of that you could never know if someone could start treating you badly. Chariot had told her before that she should be careful about who she told those things, but Akko was a terrible liar and besides, if Diana was her friend she was going to understand.

“What?!”

“What?!”

“Wow, really?!” Two of them were surprised but the last seemed happy. “What’s up with your reactions? Are you two okay?”

“I… Yes, it just took me by surprise, that’s all.” Diana was the first to answer.

“Yeah, she just shouted it! I wasn’t expecting that, but don’t worry Akko, we are okay with it.” Hannah said with a smile.

“Really? Thanks!” Just after the girl said that she went silent for some seconds and then… “Ah! I forgot to ask your names!” Hannah and Barbara looked at each other in surprise, they were so focused on knowing more about Akko they had forgot to introduce themselves.

* * *

 

“It was fun to meet you! Thanks for inviting me!” The four girls were now in the gardens, Akko had to go back for her magic lessons so she couldn’t spend more time with them.

 

“Don’t worry about it, it was nice to meet you too!” Hannah answered. The brunette knew she had to go, but before she did she wanted to ask Diana about something, but because her friends were there…

“Hannah! We forgot we have to do something!” Barbara was quick to notice this.

“What? I can’t remember- Auch!” Her friend had just hit her in the back. Her eyes were saying something. _Take the hint._ “Oh right! The thing! The thing we were going to do, the thing!” She started to laugh nervously and both of them went inside the castle again.

“So… Anyway… Diana, I want to show you a place, can you go to the inn tomorrow?” Akko asked shyly, Diana was very confused about this.

“Well… I…” Am I sure I want to do this…? Should I continue sacrificing my memories again and again…? “I… Very well, I will be free in the afternoon.”

“Yey!” Akko jumped out of happiness at her answer again. “Well, see you later!” Akko had turned her back and Diana needed her to stop.

“Wait! Just a minute, please…” She couldn’t contain her sadness as she accepted what was going to happen once more.

“Eh? Okay, but I don’t understand, why do you need me here to do that?”

“I… It’s easier to remember everything that just happened when I’m able to see your face…” That wasn’t a lie, it wasn’t a lie at all, in fact, it was a painful truth. “Done… Thank you. See you later.” She gave her a smile, but it was a fake one.

“See ya!” Akko needed to run, she knew Chariot was going to get mad at her for being this late, then the girl went out of Diana’s line of sight and then it happened again…

“What was I doing…?” The princess was confused; she couldn’t remember almost her entire day. _“Diana, your-”_

“Diana, wait just a minute.” The voice in her mind was replaced by the real one.

“Before you open your notebook, try to remember something.” Barbara said. “Try to think in a person right now.” As she did that the image of a girl she thought she had never met before appeared, she had red eyes and brown hair.

“I… Wait, are you telling me this girl is the one of the curse?” The blonde was in shock; she couldn’t follow what was going on.

“So you remember her! Sort of. Well, the thing is, you seemed each time more and more interested in her, so I thought that maybe some things weren’t entirely lost.” Her friends were happy, but Diana felt hurt, as she had no idea who the girl in her mind was, tears started pouring from her eyes.

“Please read your notebook now…” Hannah said, hoping that would calm her a little. After reading the entire thing she was fully aware of the situation now.

“I see… So it seems like I promised to see her tomorrow as well… What am I even going to do…?” Diana was lost again.

“Wait, you are not going to go about your ‘I need to end this tomorrow’ this time?” Barbara was really quick to notice things.

“I may have done that before, but it seems like I’m unable to stay true to my words, and besides… I’m really curious about what she wanted to show me…” She couldn’t understand why she was saying something like that, but for the first time, she didn’t care either.

“Barbara, I have been wondering something, how did you have that idea?” Hannah finally said.

“Oh, well… In the 12th volume of Nightfall there is a-”

“You can stop there, thanks.”


	5. Chapter 5

The three girls were in the castle’s door. Diana had changed into more comfortable clothes, she didn’t know why but she had the feeling it was going to be necessary. Yesterday she had promised Akko to see her again, and now she was remembering some things, even if they were spare. She could remember meeting the inventor, she could also remember telling her friends about the fact that she may have fallen in love with a girl, and more importantly…

“How? How am I able to remember the way she looks? Is it possible the curse is weakening? But why would something like that be happening? Perhaps if I see her more times… But should I…? I have to remember that I am still engaged... Breaking a political pact like that… It could be bad for the kingdom… Maybe I shouldn’t do that… But if I don’t…I don’t know what to do…” Diana was overthinking again, but she couldn’t stop herself from doing so, as the princess she couldn’t be selfish, she truly wanted the best for her people. “Okay, so if a possibility of the curse weakening exists, then my next course of action should be… I don’t know…”

“Diana, you have been standing there for five minutes.” Hannah was the first one to finally talk, her friends knew she needed her time to mentally prepare, but if they didn’t intervene that could become hours. “Diana…? Hello?” The blonde still didn’t answer; she was just staring into space. “Diana!”

“Oh, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention…” She had finally heard her friend and was a little startled by her shouting.

“We could notice. Hey, we know you are nervous about all of this, but like, if you are going to see her it’s because you have some hope, don’t you? Leave the complicated stuff for later and just enjoy this.” Barbara was trying to do her best to calm her.

“I… I suppose you are right… But…”

“Just go, stop thinking about what could happen and see it yourself.” Just as her theory said, Diana would still remember things related to Akko, and some about Akko herself, they just took some time to come back to her.

“Thank you Barbara, I will take my leave then.”

“Remember Diana, look at your notebook.” Hannah said the same thing again, just in case her last interruption could cancel the convenient mechanism the girls had crafted for her. The princess just nodded and left for the town. As she was leaving Barbara saw for a second a raven leaving the gardens.

“That’s weird, what is a black bird doing here?”

* * *

The princess walked nervously through town, she tried her best to distract herself, but it wasn’t too effective. _“I wonder what Akko wants to show me… And why is it that she was apparently embarrassed when she told me…?”_ As she was lost in thought she finally arrived in front of the inn.

“Hi Diana!” The moment she opened the door Akko who was sitting in a table next to it rushed to her and hugged her. Diana wasn’t comfortable at all with this, for her it was the first time she had seen her, so she just waited for it to end.

“Hello Akko, you seem really happy.” The princess didn’t want her face to express her confusion, but… _“I mean, I know how it all happened, but I still don’t quite understand…”_ Was all she could think.

“It’s because I think you will like that place!” The girl said with a smile, her eyes were shining again.

“Is that so? Then I can’t wait to see it.” It didn’t take much time for the blonde to have her question answered. While they were talking, Diana started to feel two sets of eyes looking at her, she checked at a table in a corner and grasped a smug face and an intensely worried stare. “Well, we should be going then…” She was a little scared of them.

“Oh right! I almost forgot my broom!” Akko started to rush to her room but Croix stopped her.

“I got you covered, Akko.” The inventor took one she had left against the wall and gave it to the little witch. “Hello your highness, is your fever down already?” _She is the devil…_ Diana said to herself.

“As I said before, my health is perfectly fine, there is no need to worry, you should concern yourself more with finishing your work in time.” She was not going to lose this fight. “Good afternoon Miss Du Nord.” But she was scared of this one, the tinkerer had the feeling something interesting would happen so she maintained the smugness of her face and waited for it.

“Good afternoon, Princess Cavendish. So today you have a da- Sorry! I meant to say, are you going out with- No, wait!” Chariot didn’t know how to talk to her, she was way more nervous than Diana, her hands were moving randomly in panic. This was way worse than the princess had expected… Croix burst out in laugher at her girlfriend’s words, this was too amusing for her.

“I… Well… Akko wanted to show me a place so I’m going to take a stroll with her.” As much as this was hard to manage, she was Diana Cavendish.

“I see… Have fun!” The redhead was doing her best trying not to repeat the same mistake and decided to simply stop talking now.

“We will, thank you.” Diana had not expected this to go as smoothly as it went.

“Wait, now I’m curious, why did your face match Akko’s eyes when we met if you didn’t have a fever?” _Mind your own damn business woman!_ The princess had called victory too soon, and now she was angry.

“I feel no need to answer that, but I have been thinking about something, we may perhaps need to double the amount of clocks I ask you for, the deadline is the same.” Diana’s words were cold as ice, but the inventor could felt the rage on them. _Crap, I went too far,_ Croix said to herself.

“Very well… If you excuse me, it seems I have work to do…” She now had learned not to mess too much with a princess. Akko had felt the tension in that conversation, but she couldn’t figure out a way to stop it so she just waited for them to resolve it. Once that was out of the way, she got close to Chariot.

“I will be back home before the show, mom! See ya!”

* * *

The two girls were now walking around town, though only Akko had an idea of where to go, so Diana simply followed.

“Hey Diana, don’t be mad at Croix, she’s pretty nice once you get to know her!”

“I’m sure Miss Meridies is.” She was not, at all, but she didn’t want the girl to worry.

“She is super cool! She creates a lot of things that I don’t understand what they do!” The girl did a spin in one feet as she said that.

“Why are you telling me that so proudly…?” The princess raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I’m bad with complicated things, and not really good with magic, but Croix is like a second mom! And even if I’m dumb I’m happy to be close with someone so smart.” The little witch left out a light laugher, she was smiling again.

“I see… It is true that Miss Meridies has crafted many useful artefacts that simplified complicated tasks. When we heard she was moving to our kingdom we received her gladly.” _If only she could do something about her personality…_ She rested her hand in her chin as she said that.

“I met her two years ago, but mom told me they knew each other since they were our age! They even studied magic together!” As they continued, Akko started telling stories about her multiples adventures, some were because of her mistakes, while others about people that she had met in her travels, and some about both. Diana was impressed about all that she had seen, the princess was even a little jealous, she had lived almost all her life in the castle, going out only when it was needed for political reasons or to buy new books, and so she barely knew the town she lived in.

“Oh! We are almost there!” After walking for a while they were getting to the south exit, the complete opposite of where the castle was. The blonde was confused by this, the only thing of interest there was a little mountain. “I can’t fly for more than some minutes without a leyline terminal yet, so we had to walk, but now that we are here…” Akko finally took out her broom from her back and sat on it. _“Tia Freyre!”_ As she said that the broom started levitating a little, the girl was flying. “Let’s go!” She extended a hand to Diana, who had never seen anyone fly before and was just surprised by it. After some seconds of shock, she recovered and accepted her hand, and with the little witch’s help she was able to hoop in. The blonde at first was hesitant on how to get a grip, but as they moved in the air she decided to hug Akko fearing that she might fall if she didn’t, both of them blushed a little because of it. In less than a minute they were at the peak of the small mountain, and Diana was stunned by the view, the sight of the entire town was adorned by the lake that was close to it, and the orange light of the sunset covering all of that.

“Wow, Akko, this is… So beautiful… Usually it wouldn’t be possible to get here, but…”

“Nothing is impossible with magic!” Interrupted the girl, her smile was the brightest Diana had ever seen. The two girls sat against a wall, one next to the other, and they watched the view without saying anything, they didn’t need any words. After some minutes, the princess was the first to break the silence with a yawn.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night…” She was embarrassed about that. As the over-thinker she was her mind could only wonder about the future, and because of that she didn’t get any rest.

“It’s okay, you can sleep on my lap if you want!” Akko’s cheeks reddened as she said that.

“Oh no, I couldn’t do that, that wouldn’t be an appropriated thing to do as the princess.” She said nervously, the truth was that she didn’t know if she could handle that much physical contact, but she wasn’t going to tell that to her.

“Hm… What about my shoulder then?” The girl was confused about the way she had answered, but she still wanted to help her sleep a little.

“That would be… Acceptable…” She let herself rest on her and quickly fell asleep. Akko started to ignore the sight of the town, as she couldn’t take her eyes out of the other’s face, she was calm.

* * *

The sun continued to set until the only lights they could see came from the town, this was what Akko wanted Diana to see, but now both of them were asleep. The princess was having a peaceful dream, her mind was filled with images, sounds and smells from the times they met, she was thinking about all the times she got to know Akko. She was remembering something.

Akko was the first one to wake up, she opened her bag and took out one of Croix clocks to check in how much troubles she was, fortunately for her it wasn’t late, but she should be going soon. The blonde was resting with a smile, she didn’t know how she was going to be so mean to wake her up, but she couldn’t just carry her, and even less let her there, so she had no choice.

“Diana… Diana, wake up…” _Who is calling me…?_ The princess started to cry as she couldn’t remember what was she dreaming about, she knew it was something happy, but she had forgotten what it was… “Diana, are you okay?” The girl was worried. As Diana raised her eyes they met with Akko’s. The sight of the little witch and the fact that she could, for now, remember everything that had happened today helped her to calm herself down.

“I’m fine… I… I just can’t remember what I was dreaming, that’s all…” She stopped crying but she still looked sad and because of that, the little witch hugged her softly.

“I’m here.” Diana felt at home in her arms, she returned the hug and let her worries go away.

“Thank you…” She was smiling. After some seconds they shifted their eyes to the lights of the town. “The view is so charming, it’s incredible…”

“Yeah, it’s so-” Akko had remembered something. “Oh crap, mom is going to kill me!” She was the first to stand up and she quickly took her broom and chanted again, the blonde followed her as she knew what was she talking about, the night show. “ _Tia Freyre!_ Come on Diana, we gotta go fast!” The princess didn’t waste any time, she hooped in and this time she made absolutely sure she was holding Akko properly, as they were in a hurry.

Quickly they were once again on the gates of the town but as Akko didn’t want to waste any time they continued their flight. The girl was fast with her flying, they were getting close to the inn, but only then Akko remembered something again. “Hang tightly Diana!”

“What do you mean? I’m already-” The girl did her best to slow down and get closer to the ground, but it was too late, they were already falling. Both of them were screaming in terror as the sight of the floor became closer and closer, they closed their eyes hoping the fall wouldn’t hurt as much as it would obviously do, and just some meters before they touched the ground they were stopped completely by a magic bubble.

“You have got to be kidding me, were you trying to kill the princess?” The inventor had come to their rescue, and with a move of her wand they safely reached the floor.

“I just forgot I can’t fly too much…” The girl said, embarrassed at what just had happened.

“Don’t concern too much with it, what’s important is that we landed with all our bones intact, and I definitely can’t say I was bored, just… Try to remember that next time… Please…” Diana was covering her face with her hand, she still felt a little dizzy because of the fast travel. “I… I’m grateful you saved us, Miss Meridies…” She tried her best to give her an honest smile.

“Oh please, don’t worry, I just happen to be walking here as I found a little break in my extremely busy schedule of work and saw you two, Akko is really important to me so I would never let her get hurt like that.” Diana felt the hidden message for her, but even with the complaint in there she knew she truly cared for Akko.

“I will try to extend your deadline one more week.” She couldn’t look at the woman’s eyes. Diana had lied when she told her the deadline wasn’t changed, in fact, it had been already extended the week she just said.

“Really? That would help a lot. Oh, and you can call me Croix if you want.” Croix was smiling, but her face didn’t show any traces of evil this time, it was an honest smile.

“Very well, then you may call me Diana.” She answered it with hers.

“And who knows? Perhaps one day I may call you daughter in law.” The tinkerer’s typical smug face was back again. Diana’s face was as red as Akko’s eyes once more.

“You-!”

“Stop! I already told you, she’s engaged!” The girl who had been silent up until now finally decided to intervene the conversation, even if she was as embarrassed as the other, but as the girl said that both of them couldn’t hide their sadness.

“Oh, right, anyway, weren’t you in a hurry?” The inventor knew she had gone too far again, she needed to change the mood quickly, and besides, she was going to get equally scolded if the reason why Akko was late was her.

“Crap! Let’s go!” The three of them rushed their way into the inn.

* * *

As they entered, the person they were fearing to encounter was in front of them.

“I found them!”

“I’m sorry!”

“It was completely my fault, I apologize for causing her to be late…” The three of them spoke at the same time.

“Croix why are you the only one defending yourself…? Anyway, Akko, we were expecting you for 20 minutes! It’s late and I was getting worried!” She wasn’t mad, just concerned. She moved closer to her daughter and gave her a hug. “Now go change for the show.”

“Oki!” The girl started to rush to the stairs, and Diana was hesitant about following her or not. She knew for a fact it would look extremely weird, but the fear of losing her memories was way more important than anything else now.

“Wait! Akko, I…! I need to tell you something, can I follow you to your room?” Almost everyone was staring at her, and nobody could say a thing, nobody except the clueless girl.

“Alright! But stay behind the door.” Chariot’s jaw was on the floor at this point and Croix was doing her best not to burst out of laugher in front of everyone there.

“Yes! Of course! I would have never suggested otherwise!” Diana was almost defenseless and the tinkerer couldn’t contain herself any longer. To evade more humiliation that she had already experienced she decided to quickly walk to the stairs.

* * *

“So, what did you want to tell me?” Akko was already in her room changing her clothes and Diana was outside, in front of the door.

“Well… I…” _Think Diana, think, you can do this…_ “I was going to thank you for showing me that place, as well as for that particular broom ride on town.” _Well, this is better that saying nothing, but…_

“Oh, right, you couldn’t say that in front of mom because she would get angry at me if she knew I carried you here, thanks for figuring that out!” _I truly would never be able to understand how does the process of thought works with her…_ She was both glad and impressed as her little excuse worked out. With the free time she had, she started to write everything that had happened that day, and it definitely was a long one, but she still finished her task before Akko opened the door again. When Diana saw her in that costume she could remember seeing it, she was really happy, and… “It looks so good on you…” _Did… Did I say that aloud…?_ And once more in the day her face was red, it was a record.

“Thanks! Now I have to go, come see me!” Both of them went outside and everything was set up, Akko took her place at Chariot’s side, and Diana moved inside the crowd that was forming.

The show was amazing, the princess was impressed at the creatives uses magic could have, and the little witch did the best performance she had ever done. After a while they ended it, and Diana knew what this meant… This wonderful day was going to be erased from her memories… She knew she had been happy before, she knew she was going to be happy again, but… To her now, this was the first time she had been ever happy since her mother’s death… She was in pain, so much pain, but… She wasn’t going to let Akko discover that.

“Can I see you tomorrow too?” The girl said, she was happy of how fantastic she had performed this night.

“Of course, I will see you tomorrow.” The princess’s smile was a fake one. She was doing her best not to cry, and for her fortune, Akko’s perception was like the one from a rock.

“Good night!” The cheerful girl started to dash to the inn.

“Good night…” The princess wrote all that had happened fast and then prepared herself for… That…

As the tears she was holding started to flow, she said to herself… “Why am I here…? I can’t remember almost my entire day… Don’t tell me… Please don’t tell me that I had met that person…”


	6. Chapter 6

_“Don’t tell me… Please don’t tell me that I have met that person…”_ Diana was in pain, she was shaking, as the only thing she could feel was a void in her heart. The princess was incapable of remembering, not just most of the day, but almost the entire week, she had no idea what had happened. As she was distracted with that, she didn’t even realize she was crying, and even when she noticed this fact she was unable to stop. _“Calm yourself Diana, calm down…”_ She told herself, but her words had no effect. As she tried to understand how this had happened, a voice appeared in her mind, but it wasn’t hers. _“Remember Diana, look at your notebook.”_ As she remembered how her friend had told her that before, she looked at the object that was in her hand. She started to flip the pages, reading the tales of a wonderful girl she thought she had never met. As she did, memories about Chariot and Croix, and of multiple conversations with her best friends about things she was unable to recall appeared in her mind, and at the last page, the image of the girl was back again too. The blonde was finally at peace, and as she started to walk towards the castle, she knew that even without her memories, her feelings remained unchanged.

* * *

As days went by, the princess life had changed completely; her usual days of study had been replaced with adventures she couldn’t recall by her own. Each day Akko dragged her into town, forcing her to meet the people on it. At first she wasn’t sure that it would be a good idea, but as time passed and she read again about how everything had worked out, she started to become curious. The little witch was well known and loved by everyone, and Diana was surprised by her popularity. What had not taken her by surprise was the fact that most people didn’t recognize her. As she had not left her castle too much before the arrival of the entertainers, they didn’t know her face, and just a few knew her first name. She had discovered over and over again that it was fun to be with Akko, no matter where they went. At the end of each day, she placed her notebook in front of her, as she knew it would make things easier, but even knowing that, she couldn’t contain her tears as she knew her memories were going to be erased again —but at this point, she didn’t care at all, she just wanted to meet her again.

Two weeks had passed and Diana’s notebook was now half filled, she had written about and seen Akko too many times. And now she was at the castle doors, preparing herself to meet her again.

“So… Diana… What are you going to do about Andrew then…?” Hannah was the first to finally ask that question once more, she and Barbara had decided that they would wait until Diana’s said something herself, but time was growing short: the wedding was close.

“I… I don’t know… I haven’t done anything about my feelings for Akko either, perhaps it would be better if we just stayed friends…” As Diana said that, she couldn’t look up, the sadness on her face was too easy to see.

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” Barbara asked her with a concerned look, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“As the princess, it does not matter what I want. I will do what is best for the kingdom…” As she had finally been honest about that, tears started to flow from her eyes once more. Lately she had been crying a lot, she was not used to it.

“Don’t say that Diana, your feelings are important.” Hannah said, placing her hand on the princess’s free shoulder. She was mad at her friend’s words.

“And what do you mean when you say ‘best for the kingdom’? Are you sure you are not just making up excuses?” Barbara asked the right question once more, she was mad too.

“I… I will think about that… Thank you girls…” Both of them looked at each other and without saying a word they decided to hug Diana, and she didn’t fight it at all.

“Now go, don’t make her wait.” Hannah said with a smile as they broke the hug.

“Yeah, I’m sure she is waiting for you.” Barbara continued with another smile in her face too.

“I will take my leave then.” Diana exited the gardens as she was heading for the inn once more. As she left, a raven did too.

“I wonder why there are so many of those here lately…” Hannah had noticed that in the past days she had seen more and more of those black birds.

* * *

“So Akko is now sleeping?” Diana was surprised by this fact, she had told herself that the girl was always in motion.

“Yes, last night she didn’t get much sleep because she wanted to train her magic, and it didn’t matter what I told her, she wasn’t going to sleep. After more training today she said she was going to take a nap until you got here, but…” Chariot answered her. The princess could feel the concern in her tone, because she felt the same.

“There is no need to wake her up, and in any case I’m sure that she will do it on her own soon.” She was a little disappointed she that didn’t get to see Akko yet, but she wouldn’t take the little rest the little witch could get from this. She and the redhead were sitting on one of the tables, but they weren’t talking at all. After some minutes passed, she decided to change that. “May I ask, why is she trying so hard now?”

“Well… I don’t know if I should tell this, but… The thing is that in every show there are less and less people, even when we decided to shift between different parts of the town, so while there are still enough to continue, we may have to depart to another town soon.” The woman said, unable to look Diana in the eyes. “Of course, I tried to speak against it, but we may have no choice if this continues. Akko is trying her best to make a better performance, and that’s why I can’t convince her to sleep enough.” “ _Of course they wouldn’t stay here forever, they are travelers at heart, they are entertainers, it was obvious they are unable to stay in one place…”_ Was all what Diana could think of, since she had not done it before.

“I see…” The princess was making an effort to put a mask on herself, she couldn’t just let anyone see her true emotions.

“Oh, but if that happens, I already told her it’s alright to send Alcor to you with letters. He’s a white crow with a yellow star, you would recognize him immediately.” The woman could feel that Diana was sad, even if she tried to hide it. “And since Croix is working for you, she will have to come here from time to time, and Akko will definitely come with her.” She gave her a reassuring smile.

“You are right, thank you for your trust and your words.” It had the intended effect, while she still didn’t want Akko to go, they would still be able to see each other, it just wouldn’t be as frequent. She was still sad, but maybe this was for the best…

“You are welcome, your highness.” The entertainer was definitely not used to be near her yet, but at least now she was able to speak normally.

“Please, call me Diana.” The princess was the one who gave the reassuring smile this time.

“Alright, then you can call me Chariot.” Just as the woman said that, a shout from the stairs stole their attention.

“Diana! I’m sorry! Mom! I told you to wake me up!” As Diana saw the brunette, she could tell she knew who she was. Even without her memories, she had read about the things they had done, and even without that, she would feel the same, she was happy to meet her. The girl rushed at their table, worried about the possibility that Diana may have been waiting for long.

“I didn’t wait for long, and I would have not minded either, you need to rest properly, Akko.” Both of them gave the girl a concerned look. _Since when are you two friends?_ The little witch said to herself.

“I know, I know, but today we have to go early, I heard about a place and I want to show it to you. Let’s go!” She didn’t want to waste any time, she took Diana’s hand and her broom and rushed outside the inn. The princess was confused at her actions, she couldn’t understand what was so important to be in such a hurry, even for the little witch.

“Akko, calm yourself. Can you explain to me where are we going?” The girl left a nervous laughter before she explained herself.

“Well… I don’t know where it is, and it seems like else nobody here knows neither, but I heard about a place in the forest that-”

“Will answer the wishes of those who find it, the forest temple, right?” The brunette just nodded, impressed at how quickly Diana saw through her plans. “But Akko, that is just a legend, no one had seen it in thousands of years, it may not exist at all.” The princess was disappointed at her idea, she would like to think it was possible, but she simply couldn’t.

“That’s why we are going to find it! To prove them wrong! And that’s why I have my broom!” But the girl didn’t want to surrender, she extended her hand to Diana with a smile, as a way to ask her if she wanted to follow her, and the blonde couldn’t reject her. She took her hand and together they ran to the west door.

* * *

“Well, if we are going to start a search, we may need to draw a map, that way it would be easier to know which routes we have already covered.” As Diana said that, she took the last blank page from her notebook and separated it. “Oh Akko, I have been wondering about something lately.”

“What is it?” The girl tilted her head a little in curiosity.

“Why is that that you can fly for a few minutes before you fall?” Diana had had that question in the back of her mind for quite some time, even if she had forgotten about it over and over.

“Oh, well, any spell that requires me to concentrate for too much time makes my head hurt, flying is one of them.” Akko admitted shamefully.

“I see, in that case, could you teach me how to fly?” The girl blinked three times in a second before answering.

“You want to fly?” She was surprised by her request, until now, the princess just looked at magic, without ever asking how it worked or how to practice it.

“The truth is, I have always been a little curious about witchcraft, but since there was no spell that would help me to become a better ruler, I decided to spend my time studying other things, but I have learnt the basics of magic.” While Diana was telling the truth, she decided to skip the fact that her family had forbid her from trying to learn, as they were too scared that getting closer to magic could make her curse worse somehow. The only one who let her learn the basics in secret was her mother, but since her death… She stopped completely. As Diana remembered that, her face started to show her sadness once more.

“Okay! But it’s pretty hard, you know? It could take you weeks, months, or even years to master!” Akko noticed this and decided to distract her with her own request. “Okay, so first you need to sit properly on the broom, like this.” As she spoke she took her broom and showed her. “And then you say the spell, _tia freyre_!” Just after she said that, she started hovering in the air, Diana was impressed by it, as she couldn’t remember the other times she had seen her fly, and for her now, it was the first one. Once Diana recovered from the shock, Akko cancelled the spell. “Okay, now you try it!” She gave the broom to the blonde, who took it and decided to imitate what she just saw.

“ _Tia freyre_!” The little witch couldn’t believe her eyes, Diana was in the air, she had learnt how to fly in just a single try.

“Woah! But how?! I took me a year! I-I mean…” The girl went from surprised, to angry, to ashamed again.

“It must have been thanks to your extremely easy to understand instructions, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without your help.” Diana knew she was probably saying something incorrect, but she was not lying, she definitely wouldn’t have been done it so fast without simple steps in a single try. “But now I have another question, how do I move?”

After twenty minutes of practice, Diana could fly like she had always known how to do so.

“Well, now that I’m able to fly, we should at least move pretty quickly around this place. Can you draw the map?” While Akko was still a little mad, she was also happy at how fast Diana had learnt. She sat on the broom and took the paper and pencil.

“Okay, let’s go!” The girl said as she hugged Diana as tightly as possible, and both of them blushed a little because of that.

“Okay… _T-Tia Freyre_!” Because the princess couldn’t concentrate this time, they started to move up without control. She started to panic.

“Relax! Diana, you can do this! I believe in you!” She tried to do her best to sort her thoughts, and thankfully for them, she succeeded. “Yay!”

* * *

They had been searching for hours, stopping every now and then to rest, but Diana could fly for way much longer than Akko and because of that, they had explored almost all of the forest, but they still didn’t find the place they were looking for.

“Let’s rest for a while and see how much we have covered so far.” Diana suggested, as they were both already tired from the search.

“Good idea, also, I have snacks!” Akko said as they reached the ground, once they did it she sat on the floor and then took cookies from her bag.

“Oh, so you were prepared for a long search after all.” The princess was surprised, she would have expected Akko to think that they would find the place in no time.

“Of course, never surrendering means that I have to be ready for anything!” She extended her arm to the blonde, giving her one of her cookies. Diana took it and sat beside her.

“You are truly something, aren’t you? I can’t believe you are so eager to find that temple after we have been searching for so much time, and you even thought we could do it on the ground with no difficulties, I can’t deny that I’m impressed.” She left a sigh and then gave her a smile.

“Well, I can’t believe you learnt how to fly so fast! And that you are still sticking with me… I can keep searching thanks to you!” After they finished eating, Akko stood up again. “Alright, let’s continue!” Diana had been stuck with a question in her mind all day, she had decided to wait and see, but she couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer.

“I must ask, what is that you wish from the temple so much that you want to find it no matter what?” At her question, the girl started to laugh nervously, and then looked at the floor, placed her hands close and started to spin her index fingers in circles.

“It’s… I just wanted to ask it… Um…” As she said that, she saw a little ray of green light coming from a hole in a big tree behind Diana. “What’s that?” She tilted her head.

“Akko, are you trying to distract me?” The princess decided to look behind her anyway, and saw the same thing. “What if…” She started to walk towards it, wondering if it was what she thought it was. As they got close, they saw that the hole was actually a tunnel with stairs, the walls were covered with green glowing gemstone, and at the end of it there was door.

“Yay! We found it! We found it Diana!” The little witch started to jump in happiness. They decided to not waste any time and entered the place, the walk on the stairs was pretty short, in seconds they were in front of the door.

They decided to open it, and they entered a circular room filled with roots and more gemstones on the walls, and at the center there was a small tree with a stone and glowing letters on it.

“Wait, how do we read this?! This is not English!” Akko was annoyed at the fact that she couldn’t read it. But Diana decided to inspect it closely.

“Akko, this is English, it’s just too old to be easily interpreted…” Diana made an effort, to read it, but since she had studied it before, it didn’t take much time. “It says that only those with a good heart and noble intentions will be able to find this place, and anyone who prays to the tree will have their odds of their wish succeeding highly increased.” The ‘highly increased’ thing stroke odd to Diana. “So it’s not a guarantee? Well, it’s probably a mechanism to stop someone from believing they cannot fail.”

“Okay then, so… Can you make your wish first?” The brunette was embarrassed again, and the princess couldn’t see why that was, but she just simply nodded and sat in front of the tree, placing her hands together and speaking her wish to herself.

 _“I wish my curse to be broken, once and for all…”_ Even then, she felt like the temple wouldn’t simply make it happen, she had no hope after all, but that fact didn’t prevent her from trying. “It is done, now it’s your turn.” She gave a smile to her, knowing she was nervous for some reason.

“I wish…” After saying that, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, some seconds passed before she opened them again, and this time she was looking directly at Diana’s eyes. “I wish I could stay by your side… I wish I didn’t have to leave you… I wish we could be together, Diana I… I like you…” She said that looking confidently at her, she had no doubt in her heart this was the right moment to say it. Diana on the other hand, couldn’t look at her in the eyes anymore. She froze in place, as her mind and heart were in chaos. She thought that she would be okay with just being friends, she had never thought that Akko would confess to her. But it was happening, in a hidden temple in the forest, the girl she loved was confessing her feelings towards her, and she didn’t know how to react to that.

“Akko… I… I’m sorry… I just need some time to think about this… I’m so sorry but I can’t answer you right away…” Diana started to cry, she wanted to say yes, but she didn’t want to do it until she felt ready. She knew she was going to forget everything that just happened, but she felt that if she did that just now she was going to make a mistake. In order to proudly be with her, she needed to set order to her life first, starting with her upcoming wedding.

“It’s okay… I can wait for you if that’s what you want!” Akko was sad too, she had been waiting to tell her, and had finally found a chance to do it, but she also understood Diana, as the princess she wasn’t going to do anything in a rush, so she needed to be calm first. “It’s getting late, we should go back…” And in an awkward silence, they traveled back to the town.

* * *

As Diana was the one who used the broom, it took them some time to get to the inn, but since she could fly for long they also made it to town without a problem and they safely landed.

“Well… Um… Can I see you tomorrow then?” Akko was hesitant to ask, she was scared of now being too pushy, and Diana noticed this right away.

“Of course, I will be here tomorrow as always. Oh, before you go,” the princess took out her notebook and started to write everything that had happened today, making sure to remark she was going to fix all of this for once and for all. It took her little time to complete her task. “Done, I will see you later.” She said with a reassuring smile.

“See ya later!” Akko was now calm, she knew for a fact that even if she got a no for an answer, everything was going to be okay.

As the brunette entered the inn, Diana prepared herself for the cruelty she was forced to experience every time they departed, but as she was distracted by everything that had gone down today, she was too slow to place the open notebook in front of her before it happened.

“Why am I here…? What did I do all day…?” The blonde felt dizzy… She couldn’t remember a thing… “Remember Diana, your-” A voice that appeared on her head was quickly replaced by another from outside of it.

“Oh, Diana, I wanted to give you this!” A brunette was in front of her, one that she thought she had never seen before, handing a wand to her. Diana was hesitant to accept it but decided to take it.

“I’m sorry, but… Who might you be? And why might I need this?” Akko was in shock, at first she thought it was a joke, but the princess didn’t make any jokes, and definitely none with this level of cruelty. “Do we know each other?” With each question the blonde did, the more Akko was suffering, as her heart was shattered to pieces. The little witch could only think one explanation for what Diana was doing.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have said that… I should just have shut my mouth and just accept we are friends… I won’t bother you anymore… I’m sorry…” Akko was crying a lot, and Diana was confused by all of this.

 _“Could it be… Could she be the person…?”_ The princess asked herself, and as she said that, a name came to her mind. “Akko, I…” But the girl couldn’t take this any longer, and rushed inside the inn once more. Diana knew she was short on time, she immediately looked to her notebook and decided to go to the first blank page, and on it she had to give herself a clear and concise message about what just happened. _“I just messed it up, I hurt Akko, I…”_ She stopped for a second, asking herself another question. _“Who is Akko?”_

 


	7. Chapter 7

Diana was in her bed, the door from her room was locked, she didn’t want to see a single person. She had made a mistake, and she didn’t even know what it was, but she knew it was a big one because she could remember Akko’s tears. After the girl left crying, Diana was severely confused. She read once more about a wonderful girl that had confessed to her, one that she wanted to be with, but she had messed it up, now she probably wouldn’t want to see her again… It didn’t matter how much she had become used to it, she was unable to cry, the only thing she could do was stare into space, wondering if this was probably for the best. After all, how was she going to date her if she couldn’t remember her? She had thought she would find a way, she had thought that everything would work out, but now she realized this wasn’t a fairy tale, and it didn’t matter how much she would want it to be, it simply wouldn’t happen. She was going to forget Akko over and over, and just thinking about that made the void in her heart felt bigger.

As she was lost in her sadness, she heard a knock on the door. “Diana, are you there?” Hannah asked with some hope of getting an answer.

“A maid told us that she saw you acting weird and ignoring everyone…” Barbara continued, they both were worried, and Diana couldn’t handle this right now.

“I do not wish to speak to anyone for the moment… Please… Leave me alone…” She didn’t bother to move, she had no strength for that.

“But Diana!” Hannah didn’t want to just accept this, but as she said that her friend placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to stop her.

“We understand, but please, tell us whenever you are ready… We are your friends.” Barbara said, and after some seconds without an answer, they decided to leave for the night.

* * *

“Oh, we’re late.” That night, two witches were flying on their brooms though the town, as they were getting close to the market they had noticed that the show was almost over.

“That’s because you couldn’t stop picking up mushrooms in the way…” Lotte said, she was tired after a long travel that became even longer as the other girl was unable to keep her desires in check.

“I will use those in the shop…” Sucy shrugged as she answered, she was telling the truth.

“I know, but I wanted to see Akko’s show…” The short haired girl admitted sadly. “Wait, where’s Akko?” As they finally got close enough to easily see the show, they noticed her friend was nowhere to be found.

“Knowing her she probably hurt herself doing something stupid again.” Sucy pretended she didn’t care that much, but continued knowing that explanation wouldn’t suffice Lotte. “We should ask Chariot once they finish.”

“Yeah, good idea…” They patiently waited for people to disperse, once that happened they approached the redhead. As she saw them she waved her hand to them, she had already see them flying.

“Hello Lotte and Sucy, I was expecting you. I need to ask you to do something…” She was embarrassed by the fact she was going to ask this, but if somebody could do it, those two would definitely be the best choice.

“Did something happen to Akko?” The short haired girl asked right away, she didn’t have any doubt this was about her.

“It’s not like her to miss a show, did she explode again or something?” The mushroom one added.

“Well…” The woman took some seconds to order her thoughts before answering the questions. “She was out all afternoon with a friend, when she entered the inn she was happy. Halfway to the stairs she told me she had remembered something she almost forgot and asked me if I had a spare wand to give her. When I gave one to her she ran to the door, and a minute later she entered again looking really sad… She said she was going to sleep and she didn’t even eat… I have a hunch of what happened, but… Could you help Akko?”

* * *

The two witches entered the inn, Chariot had already told them in which room she was staying. Lotte quickly walked to the stairs, but something had picked Sucy’s curiosity once more.

“What’s this?” A book with green and purple colors was completely alone on a table, it had multiple markers on it.

“Come on Sucy, we have to help Akko.” The short haired girl didn’t want to waste any time, she needed to see her friend.

“Coming.” As she said that, she took the book and placed it in her bag. She was going to place it back on the table later, probably.

Once they were upstairs, they started to check the numbers on the doors until they saw Akko’s one. They knocked the door, but received no answer.

“Akko, are you awake?” Lotte tried to nicely make the girl aware of their presence.

“If you don’t open this door I will make a hole on it with a potion.” Sucy didn’t even bother, she just forced her to answer.

“Lotte? Sucy? What are you two doing here?” The brunette slowly got up from her bed as she said that.

“You told us to come, idiot.” The mushroom girl pretended she didn’t care about her, but it was pretty obvious she wanted to help too.

“Oh, right, I did that…” As Akko opened the door her friends could see she was truly acting really strange.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Lotte asked concerned, her friends had never seen the brunette like that.

“Well… I messed up…” She said, only being able to look at the floor.

“We asked for news.” Sucy joked, as she usually did.

“Sucy!” And Lotte scolded her as always.

After seeing her friends, Akko had calmed herself a little, just enough to be able to explain what had gone down the last three weeks.

“You fell in love with a princess? Seriously?” The mushroom girl said as she was passing pages from the book she had temporally taken moments ago. The brunette story was almost unbelievable, _“but she’s Akko, of course anything could happen to Akko.”_ She said to herself.

“But why would she say something like that…?” Lotte was the one who couldn’t believe her story was complete, she felt there was a hole on it.

“She probably decided that she didn’t want to talk me anymore… I mean, she is a princess, and I am-”

“An idiot.” Sucy completed her sentence, feeling a little irritated.

“Su-!” The short haired girl started to scold her, but she was quickly interrupted as the mushroom one raised the book she was reading.

“Let me finish. Akko, what am I reading?” She placed it in front of her, making it easier to pick up the name.

“Ancient Curses and Hexes? How is that related to anything?” Akko and Lotte looked at each other in confusion.

“I took it because I thought I could use it, but it seems it’s just a medical book about what they did and how to break them, there is no information about how to use them, sadly.” She opened the book once more and started to move quickly to the last marker that was placed on it. “Look at this.” She said as she gave it to Akko, the girl accepted it and started to read the description out loud.

> “The Void Star Curse: Little it is known about it, centuries ago a group of highly skilled wizards were able to create it. The void star curse is known as the only destiny destroying spell that had ever succeeded. Its effects were really particular, as not even the caster could entirely predict them. It can be only used by a powerful person, there is no other way for it to happen. Once it’s casted upon someone, the victim will forget everything about a specific person each time they depart. Its target would depend on the way it’s phrased as it’s casted, but that person would surely be someone who would have changed their future forever.”

Akko needed to stop for some seconds, she was processing everything that she just said and she started to make sense to some weird things Diana had been doing since they met for the first time. It was a slow process, but the brunette could do it. “Are you telling me you believe she is cursed?!” She finally shouted as the process finished.

“And I’m not the only one, someone had been marking similar ones on this book.” If Sucy mixed Akko’s story and the seemingly random abandoned object, there was only one conclusion, someone had been investigating this before. As the brunette heard her explanation she decided to take a look at the book once more.

“There has to be a cure for this!” She placed it in front of her again and continued from where she left.

> “As the spell was considered too dangerous for mages and witches, the ones that created it decided to ban the spread of how to cast it, preventing anyone from ever using it again. Because of this fact, there is no known record of a cure or a way to break it.”

As the girl read that she kicked her pillow. “Damn it! But if Diana has this I need to help her!” Akko was now determined, but she didn’t know where to start.

“What if we ask the person who cursed her? Maybe they know something…” After Lotte heard all that, she tried to calm her friend with an idea.

“But how are we going to find them?!” But it didn’t work, the brunette was getting even more stressed.

“Think, you tell us that Diana was writing everything constantly, right? What did she say to you when you asked for the reason?” Sucy remembered her story and found something that could have been a clue. Her words made Akko stop in place and close her eyes as she was trying to focus.

“The reason… Wait, her aunt?” She finally opened them as she found the same clue. And as the girls were talking they heard a knock on the door.

“Akko, are you awake?” Croix was behind it. The brunette got up from her bed once more and opened it.

“Hi, look! Lotte and Sucy are here!” She told her cheerfully.

“Good evening.” The inventor stayed on the door, as she knew it wasn’t going to take much time. “I was going to tell you that I have just requested an audience on the castle for tomorrow, for some reason Diana was unable to attend so I will be meeting Daryl Cavendish, her aunt. But if you want to check on Diana you could-”

“Yes! I will go with you! Thanks!” Croix couldn’t finish her sentence before Akko jumped to hug her.

“Wow, that was faster than I anticipated. Anyway, we need to be there at eight o’clock, so go to sleep, it’s late.” The tinkerer gave her a smile and started to walk away. “Oh, I almost forgot, I asked for a room for you two, as there is no place to sleep on this one. Here’s your key.” Without looking back, she threw it at them, as it fell directly into the brunette’s hands.

“Okay, Operation: Shining Star starts tomorrow morning!” Akko declared with pride.

* * *

It was early in the morning. As Croix wasn’t able to take too much people into the castle at once, only Akko was with her. The girl had not told the woman a word about her plans: she feared she would have told her mom if she did it, so it was a secret.

As the inventor showed her papers to the guards they were able to enter without a problem, and once they were inside they walked to the throne room, where a woman was expecting them.

“Good morning, Lady Regent Cavendish.” Croix bowed to her.

“Good morning, Miss Meridies.” Daryl answered.

“I need to ask you something!” And Akko shouted. “I need to know where I could find the person who cursed Diana!” She didn’t want to waste any time, as she said that she ran close to the woman.

“What? How do you know about the curse?!” The Regent was completely surprised by this and took some steps back.

“Because I am the person she is forgetting! I need to find that person and ask a way to fix this!” The girl couldn’t control herself, as she was moving her arms a lot every time she spoke. Croix was merely watching the scene in silence.

“What?! You?! Impossible! There is no way Diana would have fell in love with-” Daryl was annoyed at her implications, and before she finished speaking Akko tried to guess the end of the sentence.

“A girl?”

“A commoner.” She failed. Akko stayed in silence for some seconds before realizing what the woman just said.

“Wait what?! Fell in love?! What?!” The Regent blinked as she couldn’t believe how incredibly rude the girl was, shouting so much at her. “The book just said ‘someone that would change their future’!” Croix just hit her face with her palm as she heard that.

“For the love of… How dense can you be? There is no time for this Akko, go back to your question.” The inventor finally intervened as she noticed the girl was just wasting her chance.

“Oh right! Please tell me where that person is!” As Daryl looked at the girl, she could feel that she was truly worried about Diana, and her big puppy eyes made it really hard to reject her request.

“Fine… I will write you the details here, but you came to him by your own, and if he threats this kingdom you will surrender immediately, understood?” The Regent took a piece of paper and note down the place where his tower was.

“Thank you so much! I will prove it to you! I will find a way to break the curse!” Akko took the paper and ran off to the front door.

* * *

While Diana had slept a lot, she had little rest doing it. Now it was morning and she was still locked on her room, she couldn’t decide what to do with her day. She knew she had responsibilities to attend, but she still couldn’t bring herself to speak with other people. A knock on the door was what made her aware of reality once more, but this time it wasn’t her friends, but the head of the maids, Anna.

“Miss Diana, I think you would like to check what is happening at the throne room.” She made her message quick and concise, there wasn’t much time.

“And why is that?” But the princess needed more information than that.

“Because Inventor Meridies came today with a girl who requested Miss Daryl information about someone who placed a curse on you.” As Diana heard this, she decided she couldn’t just be there forever, she needed to move and fast. Without even checking her appearance she decided to run to said room. Her hair was a mess, she was walking barefoot, but she didn’t care about any of that, the only thing she could think of was…

“I will prove it to you! I will find a way to break the curse!” The voice of a girl echoed through the halls, one that she felt familiar. She started to run faster as she feared the girl would be gone when she got there, and as she expected, she was late.

“Where is Akko?” Diana entered the room as she finally stopped to catch her breath, she was really tired.

“She went to find the wizard.” Daryl admitted coldly.

“And you let her go alone to face someone as dangerous as him?!” The princess couldn’t believe what was going on, she wondered how Akko even knew about the curse, but that didn’t matter, not right now.

“Yes, I let her, and I hope you are not planning on following her with this ridiculous idea…” The Regent was annoyed as she quickly realized the little witch was right.

“I will.” Diana looked at her eyes defiantly, she was finally determined once more.

“No, you are not. Guards! Stand close to every single exit of this castle, the princess is not going anywhere.” But Daryl was fighting back, she wasn’t going to lose.

“You can’t lock me here, I am the princess.” Diana took some steps forward.

“But I am the Lady Regent, and until you are the queen, I have authority over you. I will not let you endanger yourself like this.” And she did the same.

“Oh my, it seems like you have become a caged bird, Diana Cavendish.” For some reason Croix was still here, even though she had nothing to report.

“Silence Meridies, if a single word about this curse leaks out-” Daryl started to order her, but the inventor would have nothing of it.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It would be bad for me too and I wouldn’t gain anything from doing so, don’t worry, anyway, I will take my leave.”

* * *

Akko was in a hurry. She was running as fast as she could to the inn where she was staying, with the hope of not encountering her mother on the way so she wouldn’t have to lie. As she got close she saw her two best friends waiting for her with their brooms on their hand, and a bag with food for the travel. Just when she was in front of them she stopped.

“Did she told you?” Lotte asked her, she wasn’t surprised at all at the fact that her friend wasn’t tired at all after running that much.

“Yup, I got it, but it’s really far away… We might be back tomorrow…” The brunette was feeling guilty of asking her friends to come with her to somewhere so dangerous and far away, but they would have followed her anyway, it didn’t matter if she wanted to accept it or not.

“This is important to you Akko, we are not letting you go alone.” Lotte answered concerned, with the feeling that she was blaming herself.

“And besides, you would probably get lost in the way if you go by your own.” Sucy added, both teasing and actually being caring about her.

“Lotte! Sucy!” As Akko said that she walked to them and hugged them at the same time. “You are the best friends I could ask for!” She said with a big smile.

After some minutes of preparations checking they didn’t forget anything, Akko sat with Lotte on her broom and they departed the town, heading for the wizard’s tower.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Diana was getting stressed, she had checked the entire place, but all exits were guarded, even the secret ones. She knew confronting Daryl would be trouble, but she had been, for once, impulsive, and now she couldn’t get out from her own castle. The princess didn’t want to accept this. Even if it was futile to escape with conventional methods, there must be another way, she needed a plan. Diana was doing her best to create one, but none seemed like they could work, and now she was walking on slow circles with a hand on her chin, still trying. She was so focused on that that she didn’t notice two voices started to call her.

“Diana! What happened?!” Hannah and Barbara spoke at the same time, they had been searching for her through the castle, following the directions that multiple maids and guards told them they saw her going, it was a long chase, but they finally got to her.

“I need to stop Akko, she is in danger…” Seeing her friends calmed the blonde a little, but not enough, she was still on motion, they had never seen her acting like this. And because of that they decided with just looking at each other to place a hand on their friend’s shoulder to stop her from doing this.

“Diana, calm down, explain to us what’s going on.” Hannah said, giving her a concerned look.

“Yeah, we won’t know how to help you if you don’t tell us that.” Barbara added, doing the same. That made the princess finally stop, relaxing a bit.

“You are right, I’m sorry… Last night I made a mistake, one that made Akko cry, but I have no record nor memory of what it was. I was so confused and frustrated at the fact that I could remember her tears even after I forgot who she was that I simply couldn’t face anyone. But this morning Anna told me that she was confronting Daryl at the throne room. I don’t know how, but she had found out about the curse, and she is now on her way to face the wizard that cursed me hoping to find a cure. This is too dangerous, I need to get to a horse and stop her. She can’t fly for long, I still could catch her in no time if I get out of here fast.” Diana finally got everything out of her chest, and now she felt as she was finally able to think as sharply as always. She closed her eyes, thinking in possibilities that she could use, and in just a minute an idea came to her mind. “Girls, I have a plan, but I will require your help.” She said to them, both informing and asking.

“Then you can count on us.” Barbara answered.

“We are your friends.” Hannah continued, they were both giving her a confidant smile.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it.” Diana answered with hers. “Very well, for this to work we need to wait for some time, let’s eat for now.” Her stomach was begging her for food.

“Diana, when was the last time you ate something?” Hannah asked her, fearing the answer. The princess stayed in silence for some seconds before finally answering.

“I… Would prefer not to discuss that… Let’s just go, we need to prepare.” And after she said that she started to walk towards the kitchen.

* * *

The three witches were flying for quite some time, but they were still nowhere near the wizard’s tower. It was a long travel, and since they didn’t know where the leyline stations were located on this region, they had no choice but to fly on a straight line. The place they were searching was on another kingdom, one that was way bigger than Diana’s one. In their travel they had seen some towns, but most of the time the only thing they could see was forests and plains.

At the start, the brunette was doing her best to not move too much, since doing so would endanger her and her friend, but Akko was Akko, and she couldn’t tolerate even a handful of hours of being still. Because of that, they had to make some stops from time to time to let her stretch her legs and walk. She didn’t want to spend too much time on that, it was way slower than flying, but she simply couldn’t stay on the broom. As the girls were passing through a plain, they decided they should stop and have lunch, and so, they were eating now.

“I really don’t get how you always end up in things like this… You are like a magnet for troubles…” Sucy admitted coldly, changing the seemingly irrelevant topic her friends were talking before.

“I guess that’s why you are my friend.” Akko answered honestly with a smile, making the mushroom girl open her eyes wide for a second.

“True, nice one.” She was truly impressed the brunette was able to think on a comeback. _“Looks like being so much with a princess changed her a little.”_ She told to herself.

“But still, this is so romantic! It’s similar to a story from Nightfall!” Lotte said as she closed her eyes and placed her hands near her chest. _“Here she goes again…”_ Both of her friend said on their minds, knowing what was going to happen. “In volume 12, there was a side story of a girl that could retain only the last 24 hours she had lived, and with the help of Belle, a boy who was in love with her-” If they didn’t stop her now, they wouldn’t stop her for a while, they needed to do something, now.

“Look, a distraction!” Akko rudely interrupt her, pointing towards something that was flying far away. “Wait, isn’t that a person?” As the unknown flying object was getting closer they realized it was a witch on a broom, and not just any witch, it was… “Croix?! What is she doing here?!” The brunette shouted. After some minutes, the inventor had finally reached them.

“Here you are, your mother told me that I have to bring you home.” She said as it was nothing important with a sigh.

“But! I have to save Diana! I need to talk to the wizard!” Akko answered with fiery eyes, she wasn’t going to surrender that easily.

“And how were you expecting to do that if you forgot the leyline map that I dropped by complete accident in front of your door? You even stepped on it!” The woman gave her a smile, as she handed her a scroll. “Look, Chariot is really worried, so do your best and to come back home safely and I will do my best to calm her down.”

“Thanks Croix!” The girl took the paper and hugged her happily.

“Well, she wouldn’t be worried if I had lied, but she saw right through me and I didn’t have any choice. I told her the truth and somehow convinced her that I would bring you back, so she is going to be really mad at me when I get back. Make it count, kid.” The woman patted her head and got up on her broom once more. “I will be checking how things are on town, I can’t be too far away from Témoin to do it, so good luck. _Tia freyre_!”

“Oh, tell him I will give him snacks once this is all over!” Akko said with a big smile.

“Make sure you do then, he would get angry if you don’t.” And with that said the inventor flied off searching the closest leyline station, trying to get back to the town as fast as possible.

* * *

Diana knew this plan was the most ridiculous one she had ever created, but as there was no other choice, she decided that it would suffice if it actually worked. Hannah and Barbara weren’t as confident as she was about this, but they decided to trust her friend. At first, they had taken a small wooden wagon designed for laundry from the maids when they were not seeing. Once that was done, Diana did her best to sit inside it, and then the covered the wagon with some a blanket. This plan could fail in many ways: for a start, they didn’t know if it was going to be able to support the princess weight.

Once everything was in place, they started to move it as they could, but since the girls weren’t too strong it wasn’t too fast. Diana didn’t mind, it was better than nothing, and she knew she was asking too much to them to even be mad for that, so she decided to be patient. As they were moving through the castle they did they best effort to act natural, like it wasn’t weird seeing those two moving something so big by their own, and for their luck, it was working. While people from the castle looked at them curiously, they didn’t ask a thing and just let them continue on their way. They were almost at the door, it would have seemed this was a success, but they wouldn’t jinx themselves saying it until they finished it, and they did right, as at the door Daryl herself was present.

“Good afternoon, we were just carrying this clothes back to Hannah’s house, her parents asked her to do that.” Barbara smoothly explained, doing her best with her lie.

“Y-yeah, that’s it.” But her friend couldn’t do the same, she wasn’t as good at it. The Regent looked at them suspiciously, and the girl was doing her best not to show the woman how worried she was.

“Is that so? Then I suppose you wouldn’t mind if I take a look at what you are carrying before you leave.” She wasn’t buying their story.

“You can’t!” Hannah shouted and then covered her mouth as she realized what she just did.

“Well… You see… It’s mostly underwear! That’s why it’s covered!” Barbara was starting to panic as well. Her excuse was a poor one, but it was an excuse.

“Really? Then why are you carrying so slowly? And wouldn’t a bag be more efficient for the job?” With each question she made the girls cold sweat was getting worst.

“It’s a lot of it! That’s why…” Barbara was still trying, but Diana couldn’t bear to hear how her aunt was interrogating her friends any longer, she could come up with another plan later, for now this had to end fast. The princess took the cover out of her way and stood up.

“Girls, there is no need to continue with this, she already knew I was there…” She moved out from the wagon as it wasn’t required anymore.

“Why are you so eager to endanger yourself? And why are you two helping her do so?” The woman couldn’t understand.

“Because Akko is important to me. I don’t need to remember her to know that.” The blonde admitted, raising her voice a little while doing so. The Regent left a sigh before speaking again.

“I see I have given you too much freedom… Hannah, Barbara, you are forbidden to enter the castle again until tomorrow morning. And Diana, you will be staying on your room until you calm yourself.” The three girls could feel the sadness in her voice, but none of them could accept her words.

“What?! But Diana is just-!” Barbara started, but she was shut down quickly.

“Diana is trying to place herself in danger. Go back to your houses. Guards!” Daryl said as she left the gate and entered the castle again, the guards followed her orders and the three of them were separated.

* * *

Some hours had passed as Diana was now locked in her room. While she had spare keys, a guard was standing in front of the door, preventing her from leaving. _“Is waiting really the only thing I can do…? What if something happens to her…?”_ The princess didn’t know what to do. While she had a window, it was locked and her room was upstairs. As much as she tried to think about something, there was nothing she could do by her own.

_“Oh my, it seems like you have become a caged bird, Diana Cavendish.”_ Just then, the inventor’s words echoed through her head. “Croix Meridies… You’re a crafty woman…” Diana answered even though she knew nobody was going to hear her, but now she had an idea. She just needed to get out from the room, _“but how am I going to do that?”_ She asked herself, but found no answer. Some more minutes had passed, and the only thing she could do for the moment was reading her notebook once more.

It was still afternoon, and she had feared the possibility Akko was already there, but with a distance like that, it would have been impossible for her to just do it, Diana could still stop her. She was lost in thoughts, but a knock on the door made her aware of her surroundings once more.

“Miss Diana, I’m here to deliver you the tea you requested me.” Diana was at first confused, she had not done such a thing, _“but perhaps…”_

“Yes, come in.” Anna opened the door and once she entered she closed it again, before getting close to her.

“Miss Diana, you want to follow that girl.” It was not a question, she could see the answer in the princess eyes. “Very well, then I will help you. We have a plan to get you out from the room but none for the castle…” The woman admitted sadly, she wanted to help the best that she could.

“We?” The blonde asked curious about what she meant.

“Some of my girls wanted to help you, they have noticed you were smiling more recently, and when Miss Kagari shouted she was going to help you they understood why.” Anna answered, her words made Diana blush.

“A-anyway, I did have a plan to escape the castle, but it first required me to exit this room, so if we combine them… This would without a doubt work.” The princess told her with a reassuring smile, trying to hide the fact she was still embarrassed about the last thing the woman said.

* * *

It was night already, the guard protecting the door had shifted minutes ago, and luckily for her, this one had poor eyesight. This plan was simple, but she needed to be quick. If this failed once, it was over, the surprise factor was required. Diana had already prepared the things she would need, it wasn’t many, so she placed them on a small bag.

The princess waited patiently for some more minutes until a knock on the door made her realize it was time. “Please, come in.” She answered, a girl entered the room and closed the door behind her. She was blonde, her hair was tied, she was wearing a maid dress and she was carrying a bag and a broom on her hands.

“Miss Diana, I bring you what you required.” The girl said as she took out an identical dress from the bag. “I won’t look.” She decided to face a wall, feeling a little uncomfortable at the fact this was the only choice.

“Thank you for your service. Don’t worry, I really appreciate the help you are providing me.” The princess answered trying to calm her.

After some minutes, Diana was now on disguise, with her hair tied and that dress, as long as she didn’t let the guard look at her face, everything should go smoothly. As the girl hid on a corner, Diana opened the door.

She did her best to look at the ground, making hard to get a glimpse at her. The guard was suspicious, but he didn’t say anything at all, and Diana simply left for the stairs. As she was now running through them, some people had already seen her, but she paid no attention to them, she just needed to get to the top of the castle, and time was of the essence. The princess was moving as fast as she could, the sight surprised many of her servants, but luckily no guard was on the way, most of them were on the gardens and exits, non were expecting her to be going up.

As she finally reached the last stair, she opened a big door, she took some time to catch her breath. She was really tired, but she knew it was a matter of time until somebody came, so she opened the door and got to the roof.

Diana sat on the broom she carried, she took a piece of paper she had on her and started to read all the steps one more time. Since she wasn’t good at drawing, detailed written instructions was the best she now had, but it was enough. Just as she was getting prepare to chant, her aunt and two guards opened the door and started to run to her.

“Diana! Stop this at once!” Daryl was scared, the distance was too big and she knew they weren’t going to reach her on time.

“I will not.” The princess, who was now on a ledge, decided to jump to the air as she placed herself on the broom. “ _Tia Frayre_!” Diana had followed the steps she had, she was in the required position and she had chanted what she believed was the correct pronunciation, but it just didn’t work. She didn’t know why, but the spell did not activate, and because of that, she was now falling.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

The three witches had been traveling for some hours since their encounter with Croix. Thanks to her help, their travel had become way faster. Being able to know where the Ley Line stations were had served them quite well, because of that they mostly moved on them.

“So… Are we there yet?” The brunette felt the impulse of asking again, she had done that every time they were getting close to one of the stations, with hope of receiving a yes every time.

“Yes, finally.” Sucy sighed as she answered, glad that this was the last time, as the girl had asked the same question twelve times already.

“Akko, what was your plan again?” Lotte already knew the answer, but she needed to prepare herself for it.

“Plan? We are just going to ask him about it.” Akko admitted confused, not knowing why would they need a plan in the first place.

“Had the possibility of him not wanting to help us crossed your mind…?” The mushroom girl was annoyed by how little she was prepared for something bad to happen.

“Well, yeah, but I know I can convince him! I won’t go back until he accepts!” The brunette gave her a bright big smile, enough for them to accept this idea even though they could only saw it a disaster. Sucy and Lotte looked at each other after hearing their friend’s words, and with their eyes they said: _“She is Akko, somehow this is going to work.”_

They exited the Ley Line and now they were inside of a small tower. Once they got out of it, the sight of a city downhills was the first thing they could see. The place was way bigger than Diana’s town, but since they were used to travel, their attention quickly shifted to a big tower outside the city. The building was covered with purple floating crystals that acted as magic wards, and at the top of it a green object that looked like a stone was absorbing energy from the Ley Line.

“Woah! It’s so cool!” Akko couldn’t take her eyes of the place they have been searching for, the city was nothing compared to the beauty of a magical tower for her. Her friends were a little impressed as well, but before they could say anything the brunette continued. “Okay, let’s go!” She said pointing towards it.

“Akko, if we fly there it would probably attack us…” Lotte knew Akko probably had not realized that.

“Oh, right… Well, let’s get close to it and then walk!” Her friends sighed once more before enchanting their brooms again.

* * *

As they got at the front of the tower, a giant menacing door was on their way, and just after Akko was about to knock it, it just opened by itself. A dark shady room was on front of them, armors and swords, wands and staffs were placed on the walls, as well as torches of blue fire. All the windows were closed and the only thing on the ground was a spiral stair covering the walls as well to the upper floor.

“This looks like an evil liar… I like it.” Sucy admitted with a big grin on her face. Lotte was hiding behind her and Akko gulped as she saw the place.

“A-anyway, let’s go!” Even if she was a little scared from all that, that wasn’t going to stop her. She was going to help Diana and nobody was going to stop her. The girls started to walk through the stairs, knowing that he was probably expecting them, but for their surprise, halfway their way something stopped them.

“What are you doing here?” A deep irritated voice echoes through the walls, and a giant humanoid shadow was on the middle of the room. His face was in front of them.

“We were just! Ah, well…!” At first, the girls jumped out and fell on their feet at this sight. Akko tried to explain herself, but she was really startled from what just happened.

“Be gone.” The shadow calmly said, but his words had the contrary effect. Now the brunette was determined again.

“I can’t! I need you to tell me the cure for the Void Star Curse!” The girl shouted at him, surprising everyone in the room, including the wizard.

“And why would you need that? But more importantly, why would I do that?” He raised a hand, and placed it close to the girls, just as a reminder of his size.

“Because!” But Akko was not moved by this. “You were the one that cursed Diana! And now she keeps forgetting about me! I want to help her!” She was moving forward as she said that, placing herself ridiculously close to the ledge.

“I don’t have a reason to help, she just would have to live with it. Return to where you came from. And never return.” But he wasn’t moved either, her words didn’t seem to work.

“No! Tell me! I said I was going to break the curse and I am going to do it!” The girl started to move her arms as she spoke. Even if Akko didn’t want to surrender, her friends were really worried about what could happen if she pushed this too much. For now, they were waiting, but they knew it was a matter of time until they had to take the brunette out of this place.

“But… I… I won’t help you. Find that on your own.” Just a little, but they could felt the wizard was doubting.

“I can’t! You used it so you should know how it works! Tell me!” Her fiery eyes and shouts were now intimidating the giant shadow. “I will break it! I just need how to know how!” Before he could answer, someone pushed the door and it instantaneously opened. A really young well-dressed man was standing on the entrance of the tower.

“For the love of all that’s holy, why did we request the builders to place windows here if you are not going to use them?” He looked up directly at the shadow as he spoke, he wasn’t scared at all, almost as if he was used to seeing him. “And aren’t you too old to keep playing this evil character thing? Can’t you just pretend you are not home like every normal person?” He crossed his arms as he said that. The girls started to go downstairs to take a better look at him.

“I’m so sorry! Wasting time was not my intention! I was telling those girls that they should leave!” The wizard voice changed completely, his deep menacing tone has disappeared completely and was replaced by the one of an old man.

“While I’m not exactly content to see that you are not working on the medicine we asked you, I’m curious as to why a girl is shouting at you in your tower. What did you do this time?” The well-dressed man sighed and placed his palm on his face. As he did that, the girls were finally getting close to the door. “And please, dispel the illusion.” The shadow obeyed and showed his true form, and he was just a simple wizard.

“Wait, who are you? I feel like I have seen you before…” Akko who was in front of him asked curiously, while Lotte and Sucy were still catching up.

“I am not sure how we could have met, but I am Prince Andrew Hanbridge. And he is the royal apothecary, Giwrick.” The brunette took some seconds to process the information, just looking confused at him, until she finished the process.

“Wait, what?! Prince Andrew?!” The three witches were surprised, but Akko was completely shocked and because of that she didn’t say anything more. After waiting for some seconds the man decided to speak again.

“That is correct. May I ask your name and what did he do this time…?” The prince sighed again. Because he had been busy all day, he was really tired and just wanted to get this business done, but he was not prepared for the brunette’s answer.

“I’m Atsuko Kagari, just call me Akko!” She had finally calmed herself. “I came here because he cursed Diana before and I am going to find the cure for it!” She continued with a smile.

“You… Did what…?” Andrew irritatedly looked at the wizard who hided his face immediately confirming the girl’s words. “You cursed Diana Cavendish…?” He sighed once more. “Seriously?”

“Wait! I can explain! I thought the curse wasn’t going to work!” Giwrick said in panic, and the four people on the room blinked repeatedly.

“You cursed Diana because you thought it wasn’t going to work?!” Akko reacted first, she was really mad at him.

“And I thought Akko was the most stupid person on this room.” Sucy tried to get a reaction on someone but it had no effect, everyone ignored her words.

“But… Why would you do that?” And Lotte was truly confused.

“Come on! Destiny destroying magic?! When I found that scroll I thought it was one of my grandfather’s jokes!” The wizard admitted, trying to convince himself that it wasn’t his fault.

“You used forbidden dangerous magic because you thought it was a joke?!” The brunette couldn’t still believe his words, all of this was too ridiculous to be true.

“Forbidden dangerous magic…? You casted that on a princess of another kingdom…?” Andrew who had been silent about all this decided to intervene, he was getting more and more irritated as the conversation continued. “Giwrick, you are going to be lucky if your only punishment is going to be being constantly watched over after this ends.”

“Okay, whatever! just tell me how to break the curse!” Akko was impatient, but she knew that with the prince here this was her chance.

“The thing is… That’s impossible…” He answered ashamed, he could only look at the floor. “I have been trying to find one fifteen years ago when I realized it actually worked and I have done something terrible. But I found nothing…” As they heard the wizard’s words, Lotte was trying to think in something to tell her friend, while Sucy took out Croix’s book and started to read into it once more, and Andrew just sighed again. He had no idea how he ended up in this mess, or even what the mess was to begin. He decided to learn about it as they proceeded.

_“There has to be a cure… I need to help her… I want her to remember me…”_ The brunette was frozen in place, she couldn’t speak a word, she was doing her best to go on, to fix all this. But now she was completely lost, there was nothing she could do. How was she going to do so if there was no cure? In so much time, an experienced powerful wizard couldn’t find it, how was she going to do it? If there was one to begin with. _“I don’t want to see her in pain as she was when she called my name… Wait, she called my name?! How?!”_ She finally realized something, Diana was able to remember her name.

“Diana can remember things!” Akko slapped her palm with a closed fist and shouted surprising everyone on the room. She had an idea. “She called my name seconds after she lost her memory!” Everyone were surprised by this.

“Then…” Lotte started to speak, but with one look at her friend’s eyes she could tell they were thinking the same thing.

“Akko, look at this.” Sucy handed the book to her and placed her finger on the important part. The brunette read it and started to wonder why that was important, but eventually got to the same conclusion.

“This is it! I can help Diana with this! Thanks!” After Akko said that she hugged them at the same time. The girl was happy she had finally found something, so much that she took the book and show it to the wizard.

“Wait… You want to try that…? But if it fails you could damage her memories forever… And your method is…” The wizard couldn’t bear to let her do something that dangerous… “Tampering with memories like that is a double edge sword, if the curse was even a little stronger that her will… The princess may not be able to remember you anymore, not even after some time.” He sadly added,

“It won’t fail, I trust her!” But the brunette wasn’t surrendering, if this was her only shot, then she would take it. Diana was strong enough to break the curse, and Akko was sure of that, she believed in her.

“If you are sure then… I might have something that could help you with that… Wait for a bit while I search it…” He answered and started to climb the stairs from the tower.

“So… Anyone feels like explaining to me what were you scheming…? Or tell me how did this spell affected Diana…? Or anything at all…?” The prince had been left out of the conversation for quite some time. Because of it, he decided to patiently wait until they had decided to help him understand what was going on, but since it seemed like they had forgotten his presence he decided to take this chance to ask.

The brunette was almost startled when he spoke, she had been so focused on what just happened she had truly forgot about him. “Oh! Right! Sorry… The thing is…”

* * *

Diana was falling, she had decided to jump before trying the spell and now her impending end was getting closer. _“Akko… I’m sorry… I failed…”_ The fall was a big one, she knew it her death was inevitable at this rate. She had to do something, but she had no idea what. She had failed the spell, and she doubted casting it again would change the result, she knew something on her notes was wrong, and she had no way to check what it was. As she was unable to do anything at all, time felt like it was moving slower, but it was meaningless, nothing would change. _“Diana!”_ The brunette’s voice filled her mind, and now the princess wanted to fight once more.

_“You want to fly?”_ An image appeared, she was remembering something… _“Okay! But it’s pretty hard, you know? It could take you weeks, months, or even years to master!”_

_“If I did it before, I can do it again! I am Princess Diana Cavendish, and I refuse to die like this!”_ She took her broom once more and placed it on a correct position, even if she wasn’t on it, she could make it levitate, she was sure of it.

_“Tia Freyre!”_ The brunette said in her head.

“Tia Freyre!” And she chanted at the same time she heard her words. The spell had worked, Diana was suspended on the air, just before touching the ground. She wasn’t surprised it worked, but because she was holding the broom with only one hand, when it suddenly stopped Diana had lost all acceleration and she couldn’t stop herself from losing grip of it. She fell to the grass, and while it wasn’t the most pleasant experience she’d ever had, she had saved herself.

The princess knew it was a matter of time before anyone found her, she had to run, but she was too tired from that fall. She couldn’t move just yet. As she was still on the ground, she saw a raven get close to her, and seconds later a voice spoke to her.

“Diana! Are you okay?!” The voice was coming from the black bird.

“What…? A talking bird…? Perhaps I did die after all…” She couldn’t understand what she was seeing, _“is my mind playing tricks on me? Did I hit my head on the landing?_ ”

“Are you kidding me…? Témoin is not talking, it’s me! Croix! I’m sending my voice to him!” The woman sounded really angry. “And let me tell you something, you have no idea how glad I am that you learned once more how to fly, but… Why did you just jump before actually trying it?! Do you have a death wish?!” And she had the right to be angry, Diana had done something extremely reckless.

“Well… I… How do I explain my choices…? The reason because I decided to do that was mostly because I… It seems like I simply got carried away…” She admitted ashamed. She had done the most reckless, stupid, dangerous thing she had ever done, she just decided to jump because she simply believed it was going to work. While it actually had, she now knew she could have done things way better. She could have saved herself the troubles, but the weird thing was… _“This is truly strange… Why do I not feel bad about this…? I almost died, but… I didn’t… I believed on something, and I it just worked…”_ She was confused, it was the first time in her life she didn’t feel the need to punish herself for a mistake so big.

“You jumped from the damn roof of a giant castle because you got carried away…?” A sigh was clearly perceivable through the inventor’s voice. “It seems like Akko is not the only one who had changed… Anyway, she is back in town.” Diana was surprised at that fact, she was unable to understand how had she traveled so fast through kingdoms, but she decided to get that answered later. “I will pick you up in a minute, don’t move.”

“Very well.” Diana closed her eyes slowly as her life was not in danger anymore, and most importantly, Akko was safe. “It seems my attempts to escape and stop her were meaningless…” She admitted finally letting herself relax, she didn’t know if the little witch had found a cure, but she didn’t care either, she came back to her.

“It would have been meaningless even if you two had met again, she would have convinced you to go with her in seconds. You know that.” This time the voice didn’t come from the raven, but from Croix herself, who was flying in front of her.

“That is… Quite true… I can’t deny that.” The princess admitted with a smile and finally stood up once more.

* * *

The three witches were flying across town as fast as possible, Akko needed to see Diana at once. Thanks again to Croix’s Ley Line map they had come back in just some hours, but since it was still a long travel they finally arrived after the sunset. It was a cloudy night, the light of the moon and the stars had not been helping them, but they managed through all that and now they could move thanks to the torches on the town.

“Akko!” A familiar voice called to her, it was her mother. “I was so worried! I can’t believe Croix let you do that! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Chariot intercepted them on her broom as she saw them come back from the direction her girlfriend told her they would.

“Mom! I’m okay! He didn’t hurt us!” The brunette tried to calm her, but she knew it was going to be something complicated.

“I think he was the one scared of getting hurt, actually.” Sucy commented with an evil grim as they landed on the ground so the woman could take a better look at them. She first checked the usual spots were her daughter would have got hit for various reasons, mostly falling from a broom or exploding, as she found nothing she then sighed and hugged her as tightly as she could.

“We found it! We found a way to break the curse!” Akko gave her a smile that her mother couldn’t see.

“And it will be so romantic!” Lotte added, she couldn’t contain her happiness. Even if she hadn’t met the princess, she really felt she deserved Akko, and that they could be together.

“I’m so glad that you are okay… It’s not that I thought that you would fail, I believe in you, there is nothing that you can’t do when you really try, but… I do have the right to get worried anyway…” Chariot admitted with a smile. The brunette returned the hug and decided to take a little time to relax on her arms. After all, it was true she left without a word. After some seconds passed, they saw Alcor getting close to them and finally landing on the entertainer’s arm. She started to speak with him for some seconds and then he left again in the direction he first appeared. “Croix says that Diana is inside the inn.”

“Okay, let’s go there then!” Akko couldn’t wait any longer, this was it. She was going to ask Diana if she wanted to take this risk, if she believed she was strong enough to try this. She knew that if this failed, the princess was going to suffer a lot, but at the same time, she believed in her. She knew that it wasn’t going to fail, she knew she would break it.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

Diana had always been a patient, rational and thoughtful person. She had always planned every move she made, and always had a backup plan in mind. No person could have ever described Princess Diana Cavendish as someone impatient, emotional nor impulsive. At least, not until recently. The princess was unable to understand how that had happened, since she had no memories of the tales she once wrote about a wonderful girl, so she couldn’t wait to meet her.

_“I wonder if she found a way to destroy this wrecked curse…”_ She believed in Akko, even if it was strange to trust in someone that you almost only knew from stories, but for some reason that was unexplainable to her, she did.

Diana was waiting inside the inn, Croix had told her that Chariot had already encountered her daughter and that she would be there in some minutes. She decided to stay close to the door, because she knew that in any moment…

“Diana!” The brunette slammed the door open and as she did that, she saw the person she was most eager to see again, waiting for her. Akko started to rush to her to give her a hug, but just when she was in front of her she noticed this scared the blonde a little. “Oh, right, you don’t remember me… Sorry…” She scratched her head and tried to laugh a little to relax.

“Akko… Don’t be, I kept all this a secret because I feared what could happen if you ever knew…” Diana needed to confess properly what had happened, she was doing her best to look at her in the eyes. “I hurt you because I couldn’t bring myself to trust you… And I’m not even able to remember that either, I’m a horrible person…” She said, the princess was only able to stare at the floor. But Akko decided to take her hands and give her a smile, which caused Diana to connect their eyes once more.

“You are not a bad person, you are wonderful.” The blonde couldn’t just _not_ wonder why she wasn’t blaming her, but she didn’t say a thing, she just answered with a confused stare. “And… I got a way to break the curse! I believe.” Diana’s confusion just increased with the last word.

“You believe?” The princess was confused as to why Akko didn't sound unconvinced while saying those words.

“Yep! I mean, it’s not the normal way to break a curse, but I know it will work!” The brunette said confidently.

“That’s wonderful! Then tell me, what is this method?” Diana couldn’t believe her words, she was truly happy to hear that. Her last month was nothing more than a void filled with stories she believed were true, she needed to remember things again.

“I can’t tell you!” Akko answered her with a smile. “It’s a surprise! But…” Her face shifted to a more serious expression.

“If this fails you are doomed.” A really weird looking girl was standing on the front door, while a short-haired girl and Chariot were hiding behind the door frame.

“Sucy!” Lotte started to complain.

“What? If we waited until Akko completed that sentence, we’d have been behind that door for hours.” The mushroom girl shrugged and Diana could only think she was rude but she simply ignored her words.

“G-good evening Diana! We just didn't want to interrupt you!” Diana raised an eyebrow and wondered if spying on people was what got Croix and her together.

“Good evening Chariot.” Regardless of that entrance she decided to cordially greet her and then she stared at the two witches. “My name is Princess Diana Cavendish, are you Akko’s friends?” That was indeed a question for her.

“They helped me get to the wizard and plan this all! They are amazing!” Akko cheerfully said. This took the blonde by surprise, but at the same time it explained how the girl was able to travel that fast.

“Hello, I’m Lotte Yanson, Akko has told us a lot about you.” The short-haired girl answered her shyly.

“I’m Sucy Manbavaran, thanks for taking care of our idiot.” The mushroom one joked, but as she did a small and almost unnoticeable smile appeared on her face.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, but I need to ask, what did Miss Manbavaran mean when she said that if this fails I’m doomed?” Diana was curious since the beginning, but she had decided to stay focused on greeting them first since this was the first time.

“Well… The thing is…” The brunette placed her hand behind her head once more, and looked down. “I have an idea, but the wizard said that if your will was not strong enough it would fail and your memory could get really damaged from it…” After she finished this, the girl raised her eyes again and gave Diana a confident smile. “That’s why I wanted to ask you if you want to do it. I believe in you, I know you can do this, but…” And once more she looked at her feet. “I don’t know if you want to take the risk for someone like me…” Her voice was weak, she was scared of how the blonde might answer, and of course, Diana knew why. She hadn’t told her how she felt, the only thing she knew was that she needed time to think about it.

“Akko…” Diana placed a hand on the little witch’s shoulder. “If you believe it will work, then I know it will. I believe in your believing heart.” A gentle smile appears in Diana’s face as she said that, stunning Akko. “I might have lost many memories about you, but I still can remember some, and…” Her face started to blush as she spoke. “I don’t need to remember you to know you are important to me… Because I…” An audible gasp from Lotte startled the princess who had completely forgotten about everyone else. As she looked at her side she saw Lotte, Sucy and Chariot staring at them almost as shocked as the brunette, waiting for her to complete her sentence. Looking around a little more she saw Croix in one of the tables with a smirk on her face. “I will finish that later… I-in any case, can we start your plan already…?” She did her best to try to change topics.

“Yes! Okay, let’s go!” Akko said excited, she was a little disappointed the princess didn’t finish her sentence, but she knew she was going to do it later.

“Akko, people are sleeping.” Sucy commented a little irritated.

“It's late... Maybe we should start tomorrow?” Lotte asked worried that her friend would be sad at her words.

“But if we do that then she will lose her memories again!” The brunette couldn’t just accept that happening, she had promised herself that she wouldn’t let that happen again.

“Then Diana would have to sleep with you.” The inventor walked towards the group with a smug face.

“What?!” Both Diana and Akko said at the same time blushing.

“I presume she retains her memories even if she is asleep, right?” The evilness on Croix’s face wasn’t leaving any time soon.

“How did you know that?!” The princess was mad now, _“just how much did she spy on me…?”_

“I didn’t, it was just an assumption, but by your reaction it seems like you have slept together already.” The tinkerer was doing her best not to burst out laughing just there. Multiple shocked stares were directed at the two girls, and the brunette could only hide her face in her hands.

“You crafty woman…” Diana was really mad now, but before this could continue they were interrupted.

“A-anyway… I will try to ask for a room with two beds for the night!” Chariot decided it was better to step in and stop Croix’s teasing before it got out of hand. She rushed out to the owner and asked him if it was possible, while Diana and Akko gladly accepted the distraction to calm themselves. As the redhead came back she informed them that there was no available room for them this night.

“Then I will sleep on the floor!” The brunette claimed with pride. “I will put a blanket and a pillow and I will be fine.”

“Akko, I can’t ask you to do that…” The blonde felt guilty at the fact that she couldn’t go back just yet and let her sleep on her own bed.

“It’s fine, really. I traveled a lot so I’m really used to sleep like that, you can use my bed.” But the little witch was stubborn and she couldn’t let a princess sleep on the floor, and even less with her, that idea was simply just too embarrassing for both of them.

“Then… It seems that I do not have a say in this matter, am I correct?” Diana admitted with a warm, defeated smile.

“Nope!” And Akko gave her back another smile.

“Get a room.” Sucy commented as those two had once more forgotten they weren’t alone, Lotte was just staring at them with noticeable happiness on her face.

“We tried!” The brunette pouted and blushed again.

“Let just go and rest.” The blonde wanted to stop this conversation as soon as possible. “I would truly enjoy some sleep after jumping from the castle’s roof tonight…” She sighed as she said that.

“You did what?!”

* * *

“And then I told her ‘I will not.’ I jumped from the roof and tried to enchant the broom but I said _frayre_ instead of _freyre_.” Diana and Akko were already on the brunette’s room, the candles were off, the only light they had was the one from the moon passing through the window.

“Diana! Why would you do that?!” Akko couldn’t get to sleep until she had heard the story, but Diana’s words only made her more scared than before, even if she knew she was okay now.

“I was certain it was the correct pronunciation, but it seems likely that something on my notes wasn’t. Nevertheless, as I was falling I heard you calling me, and then the memories of you teaching me how to fly came back to me… It was almost a miracle… You saved me…” The princess confessed with a smile on her face, looking at the ceiling.

“I didn’t.” The little witch shook her head. “You remembered because you are strong. You didn’t want to surrender, right?” Their eyes met once more, Diana was surprised at her words. “So… What did you want to tell me before…?” Akko’s gaze was begging her for those words.

“Before we were rudely interrupted…” Diana closed her eyes and breathed deeply trying to prepare for her words. “I was trying to say… That even without my memories I know in my heart that you are important to me, and… I like you as well… As long as I’m not busy, I will follow you on any adventure you may or may not prepare for us, because I want to be with you.” The princess face’s reddened a little, but she felt comfortable saying this, because she knew it was true. The little witch opened her eyes and mouth in disbelief, even if she imagined this as something she would say, she couldn’t entirely believe she was hearing it from her.

“I wish…” Akko gave her a confident look as she started to speak. “I wish I could stay by your side… I wish I didn’t have to leave you… I wish we could be together, Diana I… I like you…” Just as the princess heard those words, multiple images flooded her mind. A beautiful forest was in front of her, and they were searching for a lost temple, she remembered the brunette arms touching her as they flew. And then they were inside it, roots and crystals were on the walls, and in that place the girl in front of her confessed her feelings. This took only seconds to happen, but Diana remembered all of that day, even her big mistake. Tears started to fall from her eyes.

“I can remember it… I can see the temple on my mind…” A smile formed on her face again, but she couldn’t stop crying, because it was of happiness.

“Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.” Akko answered her with her own smile and tears on her eyes too. “Good night Diana.” The girl peacefully closed her eyes and moved a little to be on a comfortable position, at least, the most comfortable one she could be on the floor.

“Good night…” The blonde was already tired from this long day, so as soon as she closed her eyes, she fell asleep.

* * *

Diana was outside, but the only thing she could see was a flat stone floor and dim stars. She started to run, but it didn’t matter how much she did, there was nothing, only that floor. Everything was empty. She started to scream for help, but nobody answered her call. The princess was scared, she couldn’t understand where she was, but she continued to run. With tears on her eyes, she continued to shout, but still nothing. Nothing at all. She then stopped, defeated she kneeled on the almost invisible grey floor in front of her.

“Diana!” The blonde opened her eyes again, she was back on the brunette’s bed, and the girl was standing at her side.

“Akko…” The princess noticed she was crying, but now that she was awake once more she had calmed herself a little. “I’m okay… It was just a nightmare…” As she said that, without herself realizing she moved her hand and placed it on Akko’s cheek, the little witch got surprised by that and her reaction made Diana aware her own actions. “I-I’m sorry… What I was trying to do was…” She looked down so she wouldn’t face her. After being lost in a place with only stone, she needed to check she was really there, that this wasn’t a dream.

“It’s okay, but… Can I sleep with you? I will cast a spell to protect you from bad dreams!” Akko said with bright eyes and a smile, but she patiently waited for an answer.

“Then… I suppose I can accept your offer.” Diana knew Akko hadn’t learned any spell with said effect, but she wasn’t lying either, she was going to protect her. The blonde moved against the wall so the brunette would have some space in the bed.

“Yay!” And she didn’t waste any time, as soon as she got her answer she moved at her side and took one of the princess hands with hers. “I’m here Diana, sleep tight.” Both of them stared at each other for some seconds in silence, but soon enough they closed their eyes and peacefully rested for the rest of the night.

* * *

As the morning started, Diana and Akko had breakfast and then started to walk around town. The princess still had no idea what the little witch’s plan was, but she trusted her, knowing it was going to work out. Still, she couldn’t prevent herself from being curious about it, but she decided to patiently wait.

The more they walked, the more the princess was sure about their destination, but she couldn’t understand the reason. _“Is something relevant to the cure inside my castle?”_ She asked herself.

“So you said that you remembered that entire day, right?” Akko asked her once more, she needed to be sure.

“That is correct, all my memories from two days ago had returned to me…” Diana answered her calmly, even if a little guilt returned to her as she remembered how she had asked the girl who she was, breaking her heart.

“Diana… I told you I’m okay!” The brunette told her feeling a little upset about this. She had seen right through her words, and the blonde was unable to figure out how she had done it.

“You are right… My apologies…” They continued to walk until they reached the gates of the castle. As they got inside the guards let them in without protesting, sharing only a small greeting. Because Akko was with her they knew she was not in danger anymore.

Outside in the gardens, two girls were sitting on their usual table as they knew it was the perfect place to wait for the princess to return. Once they saw her both of them rushed to her.

“Diana!” They both called at the same time with a smile on their faces.

“You brought her back!” Barbara was the first to comment.

“But how did you get out? Nobody told us a thing!” Hannah continued irritated.

“Good morning girls, I’m glad to see you too.” The princess said with a warm smile that they had not seen in a really long time, taking them by surprise. “But I didn’t bring her back. Actually, she completed her task and returned without any of my help. And about how I left… I’d rather discuss that later, it seems we are busy at the moment. Akko has found a way to break the curse.” Her friends could feel hope in her words, and they were a little overwhelmed by how much she had changed. But they gladly embraced those changes, because they knew Diana would be happy now.

“Hi Barbara! Hi Hannah!” The brunette cheerfully greeted them before getting close to the girls and started to whisper something so the blonde couldn’t hear what she was saying, which only confused her even more.

“Okay, leave it to us!” Hannah said aloud once the little witch’s explanation finished and then the both leaved. “Diana, let’s go to the throne room!” Even if the princess wanted to ask, she knew the fastest way to uncover the brunette’s plan was to follow it, so she simply nodded and followed the little witch as she started to run.

Once they were inside said room, Akko took something out from her bag, the object was some kind of crystal orb Diana had never seen before. The brunette extended her arm with it on her hand and started to chant a spell, once that was finished she took out her hand from it as it was now levitating. The blonde observed this in curiosity and confusion, trying to figure out what was the use of that orb, but the girl ignored this and closed her eyes trying to focus.

Akko knew that even with the magic object, a spell like this was hard to perform. She had never succeeded before in that kind of magic, but this time she knew it was going to work, because she needed it to work, and a believing heart was her magic. As the brunette found the image she was searching for she opened her eyes again to see how the scenery had changed quite a lot. Both of them gazed upon the window and the moonlight was upon them, and as they moved their eyes they saw how tables filled with food they couldn’t eat were placed across the place. The little witch looked down at her clothes to see she was wearing now her performing costume, and then gave the princess a confident smile trying to distract her from just reaching the truth by simply looking at this image.

“Hello ladies and gentlemen! We are from the Du Nord Circus, ready to make you have a blast!” Those words made Diana understand what was going on, as they felt familiar to her, those words were the first ones Akko had told her.

“This is my first time as the center, I'm Akko! I'm Chariot's assistant! Now for my first trick...” The girl took her hat and started to check it with her hand, but she was quickly interrupted.

“Akko… You are… Just unbelievable.” Diana could remember what was going to happen, she could remember everything from that night now. The entire show had appeared inside her mind, and now she knew exactly how they had met, her first lost memory was no longer lost. “I can remember that night… The one when we met.” She said still a little surprised, even if she had expected it to happen.

“Yay! Then let’s continue!” Akko jumped out unable to contain how relieved she was to hear this, everything was going according to her plan. She took the orb and placed it inside her bag once more, forcing the illusions to be disappear.

They started to walk towards the gardens once more, and once they were on the castle’s doors they saw the princess’ friends waiting for them.

“We told Diana’s aunt what you asked for and she said it’s fine as long as you don’t place her in danger anymore.” Barbara said with a trusting smile on her face.

“So now it’s our turn, right?” Hannah asked right away. The brunette simply nodded and then looked at the blonde, who had an idea of what was going to happen.

“It was fun to meet you! Thanks for inviting me!” The brunette was skilled at acting, so playing as herself was a simple job.

“’Don’t worry about it, it was nice to meet you too’?” Hannah wasn’t sure of her words, but as she saw Akko react the same way she had that time she knew it was acceptable. The little witch was doing her best to act embarrassed as she had something to say.

“Hannah! We forgot we have to do something!” Barbara was more secure about her acting, but not as close as the brunette was. Diana was silently impressed at the work they had gone through for her, she couldn’t believe how they were so eager to help her.

“What? I can’t remember- Ouch.” The hit on her back this time was faked as her ‘ouch’ from Hannah obviously was too. “Oh right! The thing! The thing we were going to do, the thing!” Her laugh was even faker that the original one as she was trying to imitate a nervous one. Once they finished that act they entered the castle once more, leaving them alone.

“So… Anyway… Diana, I want to show you a place, can you go to the inn tomorrow?” Akko did her best to be shy once more with Diana, doing her best to remember how she had been at that time. And it had worked, the princess mind was once more filled with unlocked memories. The magic clock’s presentation, the dinner they had, the conversation after it, she could remember it all.

“I can’t believe you convinced them to act. You are truly a box full of surprises, aren’t you?” Diana gave her a joyful smile, she had enjoyed that little play they made just for her.

“Then you remember?” Akko’s eyes sparkled, she had expected this to work, but she couldn’t contain her happiness the moment it was happening.

“That is correct, why don’t we move to our next stop then?”

* * *

The two girls were walking around the town, but in truth Akko was walking and Diana was following. Even if she partially knew what her plan was, she didn’t know the order of it, and it surely wasn’t chronological. But as they were reaching the inn once more she had an idea. She had read about this, she knew what was going to happen, and she was a little afraid of it. And then the brunette suddenly stopped and closed her eyes to focus.

“Thanks! It was fun to do this! I learned all of those tricks from my mom!” She said trying her best to imitate the smile she had given her a long time ago.

“I see… Now that you say that I have been wondering…” The blonde took some seconds before asking, she was preparing herself to repeat the mistake she had done before, only because she was unable to recall it herself. “Where is your dad…?” She felt like she could start crying right away, because she already knew the answer. But then memories of that afternoon came back to her, and now being able to hear those words with Akko’s voice she couldn’t contain her tears any longer. As the little witch saw this she realized they didn’t need to continue, she had remembered, but still, she gave her a comforting hug, because she knew Diana needed it. Some seconds passed and Diana hugged her back, and they stayed in silence for some more.

“Sorry…” The brunette said. She wished she had not done that, but there was no choice. “But you still smell nice.” She tried to distract her so she could stop crying, and it worked quite well, as the princess smiled back at her feeling at ease on her arms now.

“There you are Akko, I need the things you went to- wait, am I interrupting something?” As soon as the girls heard those words they broke the hug and jumped out. The little witch looked at the woman who had appeared out of nowhere with the only intention of teasing them.

“I told you to wait at my sign! And she already remembers! Get out!” Both of them were flustered at this unnecessary interruption, but even more at the fact that the inventor had been staring at them the whole time, even if Akko knew about it. “Diana, let’s go!” Without wasting any time, she took Diana’s hand and they started to walk towards the fountain in the market. The blonde giggled a little at the brunette’s reaction. _“I must admit, that was rather cute.”_ She told herself as she continued to follow.

As they reached the place they were walking to, Akko opened her bag and took out the orb once more. She casted the spell once more and focused for some seconds until the effect was in place, and now it was night time for the two, and only for them.

“Wait!” Diana knew what this was, and she had gotten used to this already, so she decided to play her role in this fragment. Akko quickly noticed this and gave her a smile before starting hers.

“You! If this is about yesterday, I already said I was sorry! Please don’t hit me!” People were looking at them confused at what was going on, but no one approached them so they continued without problems.

“Don’t concern yourself about that, I’m not angry, I just wanted to… Congratulate you for a fantastic show. Can you wait for a minute? I need to note down some things.” Diana took her notebook, but she didn’t write a thing, knowing that in any second…

“Akko, you need to go to- who is she?” Chariot was going to ‘pick her up’. “Wait… Princess Diana?!” The redhead was a talented actor too, as her reaction ringed a bell on the princess. She was starting to remember a little.

“Yes, I’m Diana Cavendish, I was merely taking some of her time to tell her that your performance was astonishing.” She continued her lines, as she had them memorized, but just as she said it, images from that wonderful show when they acted together filled her mind once more. That was the first of Chariot’s shows she had seen. She closed her eyes for some seconds, treasuring how beautiful it was. “It was truly something to remember, you all did a splendid job.” Diana smiled at them and her eyes were sparking, and Akko’s were too.

* * *

The girls continued their adventures around town, as they started to talk with different people on different places. Everyone had been told that they should say their lines once more, and everyone remembered something about their conversations. Even if those memories weren’t as strong as the other ones, Diana eventually could remember all of those. As the hours passed, they had dinner and later on had some tea in the stores and places they had visited before on those three weeks they had met. Three weeks that felt a lot longer than that for them. The princess felt more at ease with every unlocked memory they got, and soon after they had finished with all but one.

The sun was starting to set, and as they finished their business on the places on the town, they exited the store they were in and there were Lotte and Sucy, expecting them, The short-haired girl had a broom on her hand.

“So this is why I didn’t see you in the morning.” Diana said with a smile as a way to thank them.

“We asked all those people to help you, it was troublesome…” The mushroom girl sighed but returned the smile.

“But this is so romantic!” Lotte’s eyes sparkled while saying those words, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking that those two were really cute together.

“Lotte! Sucy! Thank you!” The brunette rushed to hug them, but she was stopped by Lotte.

“Akko, if you don’t go now it’s going to be late, enjoy your date.” The short-haired girl told her with a smile and handed her the broom she was holding. The little witch was confused at first but it only took her to notice the time of the day to realize what she meant.

“Oh right! Diana, can you fly us there?” She turned to the princess who knew exactly were ‘there’ was. The blonde sat on the broom and let the brunette embrace her. And before chanting she directed a stare at the two witches.

“You truly have my thanks, _Tia freyre_!” The broom started to levitate. The spell worked as intended, and Diana was not impressed by this, because she remembered flying before.

They flew through town until they eventually reached the south entrance. In their travel the brunette made sure that the princess could remember almost everything, there couldn’t be any gaps for this to work, she needed all of her memories.

After some minutes they were in front of the little mountain and they decided to simply get to the top of it before they started. Akko thought about using the orb, but this time it wasn’t needed at all. From the peak of it the sight of the entire town was adorned by the lake that was close to it, and the orange light of the sunset covering all of that. It was identical as the last time, and Diana felt as the last fragment had come back to her. With each unlocked memory the princess had started to remember things each time faster and easier. As they landed she remembered the beautiful date they had, and the rest of that day too. Even that lost dream she had forgotten. Every piece was gathered and all the fragments reunited. She could remember everything, there was no void in her heart anymore. Knowing this, she started to cry, the princess was unable to contain her tears.

“Diana?” The brunette couldn’t understand why she was doing this, so she gave her a concerned stare and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Why are you crying?”

“Because I am finally able to recall what I felt. Every single time I lost my memories my heart felt empty, as if I had lost something important, as if I had lost a part of myself in the process, but now…” The blonde stopped and tried to clean her eyes, but it was in vain as more tears flew through her face with every second. “I remember everything.” A burst of different emotions had taken over her, all her sadness, her anger, her frustration, her happiness, her curiosity, every single one of the things she had felt before were inside her.

“Diana…” Akko was almost speechless, she couldn’t think of words to express the way she felt, but she was truly happy. The brunette started to lean closer to Diana’s face without thinking, and the princess reacted again.

“I can’t believe all those adventures we had, and the fact that I was able to forget about them…” Diana looked away as embarrassment, guilt and fear started to take over her —fear of losing everything again. “But tell me… How are you going to break the spell…? How do I know I won’t lose my memories once we depart again as the wizard said…?” She wanted to believe, this morning she had believed with all her heart, but now… The idea of losing it all was too much for her, now that she knew exactly what ‘all’ was. But Akko leaned a little closer with a smile on her face, this made both of them blush and their eyes connect once more.

“You won’t, you are the strongest person I have met. And you will remember everything because… As long as you want to be with me, we will never depart! Even if we are far away from each other, I will always be at your side!” Diana’s heart was racing, the brunette’s words were too sweet and their faces were too close. She was unable to think straight anymore, she was simply lost in those ruby eyes in front of her. She slowly leaned even closer, and eventually their lips met in a kiss for a second before the princess backed down embarrassed of what she just had done.

“I deeply apologize, I shouldn’t have done that, I-” But she was quickly interrupted with another short kiss, which calmed Diana a little. “Akko… You do know what dating me implies, right?” But she still needed her answer, she knew things were going to be complicated for them if they proceeded.

“Yeah! I mean, I will have many things to learn, but you too! We can learn together!” The brunette took her hand as she said that. “We are going to be fine, Diana, stop worrying.”

“So this was your curse-breaking plan, a cheesy line and a kiss?” The princess joked with a smile.

“I wasn’t planning the kiss, actually…” Akko admitted embarrassed. “But I’m happy you did it.” She took some time to think her words. “The wizard told me that if you remembered everything you might be strong enough to break the curse by yourself, you would just need a little push.” As Diana heard those words she noticed she felt lighter, as if a big weight she didn’t knew she had been carrying had been lifted. She felt free.

“You are seriously unbelievable. I’m guessing that the danger in your idea was that if I were to forget things now, I would forget most of my recent memories in seconds, causing some damage, am I correct?” The little witch nodded. “Then I can’t let that happen now, can I?” The blonde was starting to feel heavy once more, as if she was falling asleep, but took the brunette’s hand and kissed it. “I promise you in my name that the next time we meet I will need no notebook, because I know I will remember you.” Akko blinked repeatedly before she started to laugh, confusing Diana.

“Why are you being so formal? I know you will! I believe in your believing heart too!” Diana smiled at her, but she started to fight to keep her eyes open, and within seconds she finally closed them. “Diana?” The brunette asked worried about this, but she didn’t get an answer. “Diana?!” Those were the last words the princess heard until dropping unconscious on the little witch’s arms.

* * *

_“Where am I?”_ Diana asked herself as she walked inside a place with no light. She couldn’t understand where she was, but the more she continued the more she realized something. _“This is a labyrinth.”_ Stone walls were easy to find, as she had stumped against many as she tried to get out.

She tried to climb them, but it was in vain, she couldn’t reach the end of them, so she continued to walk. _“I have seen this place before… Even if those walls are on the way, I… I feel I know this place…”_ She stopped from moving, she needed to sort this mystery before anything. After some minutes of thinking she reached a conclusion, and so she extended her hand. “If this is the place I think it is… Then…” A small flame appeared in front of her, allowing her to finally see those walls which were filled with words. “Those are my memories… I am inside of my own head…” The princess continued to walk, trying to use the things that were written to know which direction she had to go, following every little memory about Akko she found.

Images and voices started to appear, she knew she was getting closer to the place she knew she had to go, but then…

“Why are you here…?” Diana heard a voice, her own voice, but it was distorted. Sadness was the only thing she could feel on her words.

“I will escape this place with my memories intact, that’s why I am here.” She answered the voice confidently.

“It’s meaningless… Everything you are doing is meaningless… Why are you trying so hard to remember an entertainer…? Didn’t you want the best for your people…? Oh, right, that was a simple excuse for you…” The voice answered, and then the walls disappeared. The blonde was still unable to see the stars, but her own light was enough to see that just as she thought, this was the same place from her last dream. She took a deep breath and then faced backwards, where another Diana was standing. Her skin was pale and her hair black, and she looked almost like a doll —no, she _was_ a doll.

“You truly are me… At least, a shadow of me… But you are still me…” Diana was scared at seeing this, but she wasn’t going to look away, she needed to face this.

“If you care about your people so much why is it that very few people know your face? You are a coward, Diana. Why try to be strong now? You could simply continue your life as it was, nothing would change. Everything was served for you, why do you fight this?” Shadow Diana asked, her expression was unmoved, a small fake smile was on her lips all the time.

“It is true that I have not involved myself with the people of this kingdom. It is true that I have been ignoring many things and many people. But that won’t be the case anymore. I am following my own path.” The princess felt still uneasy at her sight, but her eyes were still fixated on her.

“Why are you trying this hard? Just accept this… Try as hard as you want, there is no escaping this place… The longer you fight the longer you will suffer…” The doll started to cry, but her expression remained the same. Diana started to walk to her slowly.

“Because of her, but also because of me. I will no longer passively accept what had been given to me, and I will no longer think of myself as an object with a mission to accomplish.” The princess was in front of the doll, but she was no longer afraid of herself. Diana gave her a hug and then her shadow disappeared.

For a second she thought she was alone once more, but then the bright light of the stars started to fill the night sky, allowing her to see even further than before. She started to walk towards the brightest star she saw, having a feeling of where it leaded to. A big stair was in front of her, she started to climb them.

* * *

The princess slowly opened her eyes, she started to inspect the place she was in and quickly realized she was on her own bedroom. She looked at the window and noticed it was early in the morning. _“Akko… I can remember her…”_   Diana was a little surprised as she felt no void inside her heart, in its place there was a feeling of warmth and hope.

She quickly got up from her bed and changed into her casual clothes, without wasting any time she started to run toward the exit, asking one of her maids to inform her friends and her aunt that she was fine, that she would tell them about everything later. And so she ran through town, until she eventually reached the inn where the girl she loved was staying. But as soon as she was about to open the door, someone was faster than her and it was opened from the inside.

“Akko!”

“Diana?!”

The brunette looked at her in surprise, she definitely didn't expect to find the blonde just there, but the princess didn't hesitate this time and she hugged her as tightly as she could, and it took merely seconds for Akko to hug her back.

“I'm back, and I fulfilled my promise.” Diana started to cry tears of happiness. “This is the first time that meeting you isn't the first one for me…”

“I'm so happy to see you… Croix said that because you broke an old curse without magic or being a witch you could sleep for like a week! But you woke up in hours!” And Akko cried too, as she knew that the spell was forever gone. But her words confused the princess.

“Wait… Since I broke the curse…? Then what was that dream…?” Diana could still vividly remember it. The brunette took some distance as she wanted to be able to see the blonde's face and they both were confused.

“What dream?” She finally asked.

“Well… It’s nothing.” While Diana didn’t have an answer about what happened, she decided that it didn’t matter anymore, the only important thing now was that it was over, and that they were together. They were holding each other, their eyes connected once more and none of them were saying any words, until a voice startled them.

“Girls, it’s early in the morning and you are blocking the door.” It was Croix, who stared at them with the best smug face she could produce while at the same time being almost asleep. As the girls heard her they broke the hug in surprise and moved inside the inn.

“G-good morning, Croix.” Diana tried her best to change the topic. “You didn’t seem like a morning person.”

“I’m not, but somebody was really noisy moments ago.” The inventor gave Akko an irritated stare and she responded with a nervous laugh, since the little witch had made a lot of noise in her room as she tried to change and rushed to the castle. Akko was about to apologize but just before she could say anything else they heard another voice.

“Oh, hello Diana.” The redhead said as she descended the stairs.

“Good morning Chariot.” And this time the princess was calm, since the brunette’s mother had not caught them that close.

“I’m going to kill Akko…” Another person had joined the conversation once more from the stairs.

“Sucy! Come on, she is in love!” And another one. Lotte and Sucy greeted Diana and she was simply confused as to why there were so many people in that place.

“Akko… What exactly did you do when you woke up…?” The princess couldn’t understand.

“Well… I… Might have accidentally made the wardrobe fall…” The girl guiltily admitted, not being able to look up for some seconds. “I was in a hurry, okay?!” She yelled as she moved her arms randomly as she used to. Diana was even more confused than before, as well as everyone in this conversation, but once again, before anyone could say anything they heard two voices.

“Diana!” They both yelled at the same time. Hannah and Barbara rushed inside the inn, they knew her friend would be there.

“Are you okay?!” Hannah asked.

“Can you remember her now?!” Barbara followed. They both sat on the floor trying to catch their breath.

“I… Yes, I’m quite well, and that wrecked curse is gone.” She gave them a comforting smile.

“So, are you two dating already?” Barbara asked, and Diana could feel four sets of eyes fixed on her as everyone heard those words.

“Well…” Diana wasn’t sure of how to answer, since that wasn’t something they had explicitly had talked about before. But it only took her a stare at Akko’s ruby eyes to know how to answer. “Yes.” The blonde said taking the brunette’s hand.

“About time…” Hannah said, and then directed her eyes to the little witch. “You have literally no idea for how long she had been crazy about you.” Diana’s face turned red immediately. Some laughs could be heard from behind them.

“Hey-! I- I wasn’t-” She tried to compose herself but it was futile, she stopped her attempts to deny it.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, Akko was too. Do you have an idea of how many times I suggested her that she may like you until she admitted it?” Croix finally spoke making Akko turn quickly.

“Shut up!” The brunette told the inventor as her usual teasing face was staring at her.

As they all had gathered, the six girls and the two women decided to have breakfast and enjoy the rest of the morning. Akko had training to do, and Diana a mess to resolve, but that could wait for some more hours. They weren’t afraid anymore, because they knew even if distance separated them, they would always be together.

* * *

As the days continued, the princess and her girlfriend did their best to see each other each time they could. A week later, Diana met with Andrew. Luckily for her, he pretty much already knew what was going on, and they decided to cancel the wedding. A trade agreement was decided instead, using her vast knowledge on economics everything went smoothly. Akko started to learn things about patience thanks to Diana and because of that her magic and flight got better with time.

Once things were sorted out for them, they started to travel all around the kingdom. Together they met all the people they could, and asked them about their concerns and problems. Akko also started to study about different and complicated topics, such as economics, politics and good etiquette. Of course, she wasn’t good at any of those things, but she learned the basics, which was more than enough.

On their travels some people were rude to them, others were nicer, some didn’t even notice they were dating. But as soon as Diana’s silver tongue and Akko’s magic tricks acted, they always got a positive reaction from them.

And so, the future queens became well known and loved by everyone. It wasn’t hard to get captivated by how cute they were together. Their travel took merely a year, but they both learned a lot about what a ruler needed to be, and the princess realized many of the things she had believed were wrong.

While they were out, Sucy and Lotte decided to move their Magical Repairs and Potions store into Diana’s kingdom, since her friend was finally staying on a place and there weren’t many witches or sorcerers in there, which helped greatly in their medicines and other qualities of life.

Hannah and Barbara continued their studies knowing they would one day be in charge of their families, and seeing their friend working so hard only motivated them to do the same.

While Daryl wasn’t happy with the choices Diana had made, she eventually learned to respect them and because of that, the princess learned to trust her as Lady Regent while she was out.

Croix, Chariot and the Circus started to move to other towns in little time, but Croix always sent Témoin to notify about her progress creating new magical artifacts that could help their people. They had decided to stay in that kingdom for a while. Chariot had a difficult time accepting she wasn’t going to see her daughter for a while, but it was only natural that it would happen eventually, so she accepted their decision. Still, Croix had to calm her down many times as she worried every single time Akko took more than a day to answer her letters. Even when sometimes it was impossible for Alcor to travel that fast.

Once the future queens came back they announced their wedding, and invited many people from inside the kingdom as well as allies from other ones, such as Andrew.

The celebration and later coronation were beautiful and many of the guests cried, specially Chariot who still couldn’t believe her daughter had become queen, and Croix who tried her best to pretend she didn’t care that much —in vain.

* * *

“Hey, Diana.” The brunette called her wife, they both were now outside the castle, even if there was a party inside, simply because they wanted a moment alone.

“What is it?” The blonde replied with curiosity, as she could tell by Akko’s eyes that she had an idea.

“Let’s dance!” The witch said extending her hand to Diana.

“Then I shall take your hand, once more.” She answered with a smile and they started to move at the rhythm of the music from inside. They danced slowly really close to each other.

“I never imagined I would meet someone as wonderful as you.” Akko admitted.

“Well, I said the same thing about you many times, you are truly something.” Diana giggled as she answered.

They knew things were not going to be simple, ruling over a kingdom was not something to take lightly, as it was a great responsibility. Many hard times would come, and many easier ones too, but all that was for another day. That night they simply enjoyed their company, this moment was for them and only for them.


End file.
